The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7332 p43
15 January 2005

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New method to produce Taxol

Scientists from the Institute for Bioprocessing and Analytical Measurement Techniques in Germany have discovered a more cost effective technique of producing paclitaxel (Taxol). They isolated the compound 10-deacetylbaccatin III from the leaves of the Pacific yew tree and used a genetically modified strain of Escherichia coli to convert it to baccatin II, a precursor to paclitaxel.