Process of purifying vancomycin hydrochloride

1. A method of purifying vancomycin HCl from a fermentation broth of a microorganism containing vancomycin, comprising:

passing the fermentation broth of a microorganism containing vancomycin through a strong acid cation exchange resin at pH 1–3 and eluting vancomycin with a 0.05 to 0.2 N ammonium hydroxide solution in water having a pH of 9–11;

adjusting a pH of the eluted solution to 3–5, passing the solution through a weak base anion exchange resin and subsequently alumina, and then washing the weak base anion exchange resin and alumina with water to elute vancomycin, and decolorizing vancomycin;

passing the eluted solution through a hydrophobic absorbent resin and eluting vancomycin with an aqueous solution of C1–4 alcohol; and

adding hydrochloric acid to the eluted solution to adjust the pH of the eluted solution to 2–5 and adding an water-soluble organic solvent selected from the group consisting of a C1–4 alcohol, acetonitrile, acetone, and methyl isobutyl ketone to the eluted solution to crystallize vancomycin HCl.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the microorganism is Amycolatopisis orientalis.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the strong acid cation exchange resin is, a sulfone resin, available which has 50–100 mesh.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the eluting vancomycin with an aqueous solution of C1–4 alcohol and in the adding the water-soluble organic solvent to the eluted solution, a C1–4 alcohol is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising mixing the eluted solution obtained after the decolorizing with activated carbon, and then filtering the resultant mixture.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising concentrating the eluted solution obtained after the eluting vancomycin with the aqueous solution of C1–4 alcohol.