Process for the preparation of fidaxomicin

A process for the production of fidaxomicin comprising:

• providing a culture medium consisting essentially of,
• about 0.1% to about 15% wt of sorbitol,
• about 0.1% to about 10% wt of corn gluten,
• about 0.1% to about 15% wt of cane sugar,
• about 0.1% to about 5% wt of glycerol,
• about 0.1% to about 5% wt of soybean oil,
• about 0.1% to about 5% wt of soybean powder,
• about 0.1% to about 5% wt of dry yeast cell powder,
• about 0.05% to about 3% wt of CaCO3,
• about 0.05% to about 2% wt of MgSO4·7H2O,
• about 0.05% to about 2% wt of KC1, and
• about 0.01% to about 1% wt of K2HPO4;
• culturing a fidaxomicin producing microorganism using the culture medium to produce a fidaxomicin containing whole broth, wherein the fidaxomicin containing whole broth is produced without the use of an adsorbent resin;
• extracting the fidaxomicin containing whole broth using a water immiscible organic solvent, wherein fidaxomicin is extracted into the water immiscible organic solvent from the fidaxomicin containing whole broth;
• separating the water immiscible organic solvent layer;
• isolating the fidaxomicin from the water immiscible organic solvent layer, wherein the crude fidaxomicin is produced in a yield of greater than 1000 mg/L of broth;
• and
• purifying the isolated fidaxomicin using any one or more of column chromatography, preparative HPLC, and crystallization to produce fidaxomicin having a purity of greater than 98% when measured by HPLC.