Natural products research: perspectives from a major pharmaceutical company.

Natural products research continues to provide a tremendous variety of lead structures which are used as templates for the development of new drugs by the pharmaceutical industry. Advances in bioassay technology and in chemical methodology have combined to make natural products a cost effective source for new leads. While microbial products have been the mainstay of industrial natural products discovery, in recent years phytochemistry has again become a field of active interest. Drug discovery programs based on microbial products and phytochemicals are discussed and contrasted.