Taxol is one of the most widely used drugs in chemotherapy. It’s prescribed for breast, ovarian, cervical and lung cancer.
But producing it has long been a costly and environmentally damaging process.
Originally, Taxol was extracted from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. Each treatment required stripping bark from two full-grown trees – effectively killing them.
And these trees take up to a century to mature.
Today, manufacturers extract related compounds from the needles of the yew tree and synthesize Taxol chemically.
But the process remains complex, expensive, and polluting.
At over $20,000 per kilo, Taxol is one of the most expensive active pharmaceutical ingredients on the market. And demand is only rising.
A scientific code, finally cracked
For three decades, scientists around the world have tried to decode how Taxol is made naturally in yew trees.
The big challenge is understanding the full biosynthetic pathway – how enzymes in the tree gradually convert raw molecules into the active cancer drug.
Now, researchers from the University of Copenhagen have made a breakthrough. They’ve identified the two final enzymes needed to complete the process.
This discovery gives science the full blueprint. And with that, they’ve engineered yeast cells to act as miniature factories – producing Taxol biologically instead of chemically.
Cheaper, greener, and globally important
With this new biotech method, Taxol can be made more sustainably and at a significantly lower cost.
This is especially important for low- and middle-income countries.
Cases of ovarian cancer are expected to rise by over 55 % by 2050, and deaths by nearly 70 %. The current price makes the drug inaccessible to many.
The new method avoids toxic solvents used in chemical synthesis and can utilize lower-grade natural materials.
It also eliminates the need to harvest yew trees – helping preserve fragile ecosystems.
The research team has already filed for a patent and is launching a spin-out company to commercialize their biotech production.
This article is based on information from Via Ritzau.