Artemisinic acid in yeast (semi-synthetic artemisinin)
Ácido artemisínico en levadura (artemisinina semisintética)
- Date
- 2006-2013 · confidence high
- Place
- University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
- Credited to
- Jay Keasling, Dae-Kyun Ro and Amyris; Sanofi (production)
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Keasling's group rebuilt in yeast the pathway of the plant Artemisia annua up to artemisinic acid, the precursor of the antimalarial, through metabolic engineering. Sanofi fermented it at industrial scale from 2013 and converted it chemically into artemisinin.
Sanofi's product (Garessio plant, Italy) went on sale in 2014 but production stopped around 2015–2016 when plant-derived artemisinin fell in price; Sanofi transferred the process to Huvepharma. Ro et al. published in Nature (2006).
What it led to
- production of terpenes and cannabinoids by yeast fermentation
- assured artemisinin supply independent of cultivation
- model of synthetic biology applied to global health with Gates Foundation funding