IIT researchers find alternative source for anti-cancer drug Camptothecin

Researchers at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) on Thursday said they have identified a sustainable and high-yielding alternative source for Camptothecin, the anti-cancer drug, which can be produced at a large scale.

The researchers said the novel microbial fermentation process can be an economically-efficient method of production to fulfil the market demand at a large scale.

Topotecan and Irinotecan are two widely used anti-cancer drugs, which are produced by using Camptothecin as the lead molecule. More than a dozen derivatives and conjugates of Camptothecin are under various stages of clinical trials for anti-cancer applications.

Camptothecin is an alkaloid isolated from the Chinese tree Camptotheca acuminata and the Indian tree Nothapodytes nimmoniana. Nearly 1,000 tons of plant material is required to extract just one ton of Camptothecin and due to extensive over-harvesting to meet the market demand both these plants are now critically endangered. The N. nimmoniana population has seen more than a 20% decline in the last decade alone.

“IIT Madras Researchers have now developed an alternative method of Camptothecin production to meet the demand and conserve the natural sources. To this effect, they developed a microbial fermentation process that can be an economically efficient and sustainable method of production to fulfil the market demand at large scale,” the institute said on Thursday.

The research led by Dr Smita Srivastava, was recently published in the reputed peer-reviewed International Journal of Scientific Reports (a Nature Research Publication).

Dr Srivastava said the novelty of the work lies in the fact that unlike other potential microbial strains reported, this strain has been found to show sustainable production even beyond 100 generations. “The plan now is to use the isolated novel strain for the development of a microbial fermentation based sustainable bioprocess for large scale in vitro production of Camptothecin, preferably in collaboration with interested Industrial partner(s),” Dr Srivastava said.

Camptothecin, the third most in-demand alkaloid, is commercially extracted in India from the endangered plant, Nothapodytes nimmoniana. Endophytes, the microorganisms that reside within plants, are reported to have the ability to produce host-plant associated metabolites. Hence, this research aims to establish a sustainable and high Camptothecin yielding endophyte, as an alternative source for commercial production of Camptothecin.