A Sault Ste. Marie research lab is getting into the commercialization game of harvesting Canada Yew used in fighting cancer.
The Ontario government is pitching in to give $42,150 to Biosphere Labs Inc. to establish a pilot plant in the city to harvest the biomass of Canada Yew and develop methods to extract natural compounds to produce Paclitaxel, a drug used in the treatment of cancer. It's used to treat patients with leukemia, breast, lung and ovarian cancers.
Sault MPP David Orazietti made the announcement July 23. The money is coming from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.
President and CEO Nick Cepecawer said the company will be extracting, developing and processing Yew at a pilot plant.
Canada Yew is also known as Eastern Yew or Ground Hemlock and is a native plant to Northern Ontario.
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