Viomycin is a member of the tuberactinomycin family,[1][2][3] a group of nonribosomal peptide antibiotics exhibiting anti-tuberculosis activity.

The tuberactinomycin family is an essential component in the drug cocktail currently used to fight infections of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Viomycin was the first member of the tuberactinomycins to be isolated and identified,[4] and was used to treat TB until it was replaced by the less toxic, but structurally related compound, capreomycin.

[4] It consists of a central cyclic pentapeptide code assembled from nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS).

Additionally, the NRPS subunits are not suspected to function in the order in which their genes are arranged, a characteristic of viomycin biosynthesis that is unlike typical NRPS-catalyzed peptide synthesis.