In June 2008, Kosan Biosciences Inc was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Very active in SBIR, Kosan Biosciences Incorporated had been a biotechnology company using its proprietary technologies to develop drug candidates from a class of natural product compounds known as polyketides. Polyketides are naturally made in very small amounts in certain microorganisms and are difficult to make or modify chemically. Using its proprietary technologies, the Company was able to create, modify and produce polyketides in ways that chemists generally cannot. Because polyketides have been a rich source of marketed drugs, creating novel polyketides is expected to provide the Company with a pipeline of potential drug candidates that address existing or potential large markets. Kosan has clinical trials of its lead anti-cancer compound, Epothilone D, in cancer patients with advanced solid tumors.