Executive Summary
Chemotherapy drugs are critical for effective patient cancer care. Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical industry has encountered several instances where it has not been able to supply sufficient quantities of important chemotherapy drugs due to manufacturing problems. Michigan State University researchers have discovered a novel, faster way of producing producing important drugs such as paclitaxel (Taxol®), cabazitaxel (Jevtana®) and docetaxel (Taxotere®) using biocatalysis. The process allows a more streamlined and faster in vitro synthesis that allows quickly ramp up the production during shortages, ensuring the pharmaceutical supply.
Description of Technology
The technology involves a key enzyme, Tyrocidine Synthetase A (TycA: PheAT), which catalyzes the production of phenylisoserinyl CoA thioester, a key precursor to anti-cancer taxane drugs. A second enzyme, phenylpropanoyltransferase (BAPT), is used with PheAT in an enzyme cascade reaction to produce further taxane intermediates. This biocatalysis method provides a simple, streamlined in vitro enzymatic process for the production of taxane drugs such as cabazitaxel (Jevtana®), docetaxel (Taxotere®), as well as paclitaxel (Taxol®). Water-based buffer steps reduce use of petroleum-based solvents such as hexanes and tetrahydrofuran. The method also eliminates the use of pyrophoric reagents such as n-butyllithium in the production of cabazitaxel. Lab scale production yields have shown far greater results than the calculated theoretical yields.
Key Benefits
Applications
Patent Status:
Issued patents US 9,732,365; US 10,501,764
Licensing Rights Available
Full licensing rights available
Publications
Feb 2017 Biochemistry article
Oct 2017 Biochemistry article
Inventors: Dr. Kevin Walker
Tech ID: TEC2012-0076