c-LEcta leads European research consortium in the field of biocatalysis

April 30, 2009 - PRLog -- The project proposal was initiated and coordinated by c-LEcta and received funding approval in March 2009. The project is led by c-LEcta and includes three start-up companies and DSM.

Enzymes are biological catalysts and play a key role during the production of numer-ous chemical products: These very diverse products range from high-value chiral intermediates for the pharmaceutical industry to fine and specialty chemicals for agro, cosmetic and food applications. To compete with non-biological solutions these bio-catalytic processes have to be economically viable. It is also crucial that they can be implemented quickly to meet the demands of the market.

Natural enzymes used for biocatalysis often have a sub-optimal acceptance for in-dustrially relevant substrates. This limits their broader use within industrial processes. Key technologies like enzyme engineering offer a huge economic value because they can be employed to optimize enzymes for industrial processes. Within the joint re-search project “Eng Biocat” the consortium partners aim to develop and implement a fully integrated enzyme engineering platform which will be used to rapidly identify new enzymes for the biosynthesis of novel chemical products of high industrial rele-vance. Sustainability and the economic value will be in the focus of the scientific work. The consortium comprises three technology companies (c-LEcta, Biosilta, Bioingenium), one industry partner (DSM Pharmaceutical Products) and five aca-demic institutions (Technical University of Denmark, Prof. Woodley; Technical Uni-versity of Dresden, Prof. Barth; University of Oulu, Dr. Hillukkala; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Prof. López-Santín; University of Leipzig, Prof. Hofmann / Dr. Robert Günther). The consortium is coordinated by c LEcta.

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c-LEcta built up a proprietary technology platform covering the complete enzymatic value chain from the discovery of enzymes, the optimization of enzyme properties to their efficient production. This platform is used for the development of tailor-made enzymatic solutions. New enzyme products are developed for industrial applications as well as for applications in research, development and diagnostics.

These developments are preferentially carried out together with strategic partners. You are always welcome to discuss the potential of cooperation with c-LEcta’s management.