Phyton Biotech's history is inspiring. It started with two talented postdocs at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. They had an idea that most people at the time thought would be impossible to realize -- to produce paclitaxel from plant cell cultures instead of the rare and slow growing Pacific yew tree. The bark of the Pacific yew was the original source of paclitaxel, the active ingredient in Bristol-Myers Squibb's TAXOL^® oncology product for the treatment of breast, ovarian and other forms of cancer. The need for paclitaxel was so great that environmentalists feared its widepsread use would make the Pacific yew extinct. Some estimates at the time predicted at least one tree would be destroyed for each patient treated!  Today a single vial from our working cell bank produces enough paclitaxel to treat many patients.

Phyton Biotech was founded in 1990 in Ithaca, NY with the objective of developing manufacturing solutions for complex plant-derived compounds through plant cell culture technology.  The 1993 acquisition of Phyton GmbH in Ahrensburg, Germany, the largest cGMP plant cell culture facility in the world with fermentors up to 75,000 L in size, advanced Phyton's objectives toward commercial reality.

Today Phyton has a long-term supply agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb for the production of paclitaxel. With enough paclitaxel manufacturing capacity to supply most of the world's requirement, Phyton has provided Bristol-Myers Squibb with a secure and environmentally friendly source of paclitaxel for TAXOL^®. In June 2004, Bristol-Myers Squibb received the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for Phyton's environmentally friendly production of paclitaxel.

In 2003, Phyton Biotech was acquired by DFB Pharmaceuticals, a private Texas-based pharmaceutical company with an established commercial history (http://www.dfb.com). The acquisition has strengthened Phyton Biotech's technology with the addition of financial, legal and technical resources, and has expanded its options in the pharmaceutical marketplace.