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Foorquan Hashmi: Breakthrough in Cancer Drug Production – A Path to Affordable and Sustainable Chemotherapy

Foorquan Hashmi/LinkedIn

Jun 6, 2025, 16:12

Foorquan Hashmi: Breakthrough in Cancer Drug Production – A Path to Affordable and Sustainable Chemotherapy

Foorquan Hashmi, MD, Senior Editor at OncoDaily: India Bureau, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Breakthrough in Cancer Drug Production: A Path to Affordable and Sustainable Chemotherapy

After three decades of global research efforts, scientists at the University of Copenhagen have cracked a complex scientific puzzle – enabling biosynthetic production of Taxol, one of the world’s most important chemotherapy drugs.

What’s the breakthrough?

Researchers have identified the final two missing enzymes required to fully map the biosynthesis of Taxol, originally derived from the Pacific yew tree. By engineering yeast cells to carry these genes, the team has developed a scalable, biotech-based method to produce the drug.

Why does this matter?

• Taxol costs over $20,000/kg due to current complex chemical synthesis methods.
• This new method could cut the cost by 50%.
• Makes treatment more accessible globally, especially as ovarian cancer rates are projected to rise by over 55% by 2050, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries.

A win for sustainability:

• Reduces reliance on old methods that once required two mature yew trees per patient treatment.
• Avoids harmful chemical solvents used in conventional production.
• Enables recycling of materials and reduces waste.

The team, led by Prof. Sotirios Kampranis and Asst. Prof. Feiyan Liang, is now moving toward patenting the technique and launching a spin-out biotech company to make biosynthetic Taxol commercially viable.

This is a powerful example of how synthetic biology and sustainability can go hand-in-hand to create scalable, life-saving solutions in oncology.

Read more about this scientific milestone.”

Cancer Drug

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cancer Cancer Drug Production chemotherapy Feiyan Liang Foorquan Hashmi LMICs OncoDaily Oncology Ovarian Cancer Pacific yew Sotirios Kampranis Taxol University of Copenhagen yeast cells yew tree

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