Paclitaxel Courtesy of Ben Lopez, The Ohio State University, James Cancer Hospital Pharmacy
Photo Courtesy of Ken Aschliman

This chemotherapy medication was first isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew in 1971. It was approved in 1993 to treat a number of types of cancer including ovarian, breast, and lung cancer. Due to concerns over the high demand for the drug and the potential over-harvest of the Pacific yew, alternative sourcing of the drug was explored. As of 2013, the drug is produced from European yew using a semi-synthetic method.