Patent ID: 7452692

Claim:
A method for obtaining a macrolide selected from the group consisting of tacrolimus, ascomycin, pimecrolimus, sirolimus, and everolimus comprising the step of extracting macrolide-containing biomatter that is whole fermentation broth with a hydrophobic extraction solvent to obtain a solution of the macrolide in the hydrophobic extraction solvent, wherein the pH of the macrolide-containing biomatter being extracted is between 8 and about 13 and recovering said macrolide from said solution, wherein the macrolide-containing biomaffer is tacrolimus-containing biomatter when tacrolimus is to be obtained, ascomycin-containing biomatter when ascomycin is to be obtained, pimecrolimus-containing biomatter when primecrolimus is to be obtained, sirolimus-containing biomatter when sirolimus is to be obtained, and everolimus-contaming biomatter when everolimus is to be obtained.