Wortmannin, a steroid metabolite of the fungi Penicillium funiculosum, Talaromyces wortmannii, is a non-specific, covalent inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks).

[3] The half-life of wortmannin in tissue culture is about 10 minutes due to the presence of the highly reactive C20 carbon that is also responsible for its ability to covalently inactivate PI3K.

PI3K signaling is attenuated by the phosphatase activity of the tumor suppressor PTEN that is absent in a number of human cancers.

[6][7][8] Medicinal chemistry research has been conducted to identify wortmannin derivatives that are more stable, while not losing its therapeutic effect.

[10][11][12] The clinical development plan for sonolisib includes both standalone and combination therapy in major human cancers.