Diversa Licenses Enzyme for Chiral Intermediate to BASF
Diversa Corporation has licensed a proprietary enzyme for the biocatalytic synthesis of a pharmaceutical intermediate to BASF. BASF will produce the biocatalyst and apply it in one of their proprietary biocatalytic processes to synthesize a chiral intermediate. This is the first product licensed under the broad collaborative agreement between the companies to develop biocatalysts and biological processes for a variety of chemical opportunities.
Optically active chiral compounds play an important role in the life science industry. Regulatory requirements and the prospects of lower toxicity, higher efficacy, and lower manufacturing costs have increased demand for chiral compounds. BASF markets a broad and growing portfolio of chiral products under its ChiPros(TM) brand, including optically active amines, alcohols, epoxides and acids and their derivatives. The enzyme licensed to BASF was derived from one of Diversa's DiscoveryPoint(TM) enzyme platforms. Diversa developed these enzyme platforms to meet the needs of manufacturers of chiral pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals with the objective of facilitating the reduction of manufacturing costs and the development of novel intermediates.
"Diversa and BASF have been working together to develop high-performing biocatalysts since early 2002, and we're pleased with the commercial success of our collaboration," stated Jay M. Short, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Diversa Corporation. "In licensing our enzyme to BASF, we have achieved an important product commercialization objective for 2003 and another milestone in increasing our near-term product revenue. We are hopeful that this will be the first of several commercial licenses to be signed under this collaboration with BASF."
"The recent agreement with Diversa marks a great success for our collaboration. By licensing this enzyme, we further leverage our proprietary biocatalytic process technology. This enables us to broaden our ChiPros(TM) portfolio and to fulfill a specific customer request," said Udo Rheude, Ph.D., Director of BASF's Global New Business Development Chemical Intermediates. "For us, customer service includes providing the requested compound from lab scale through commercial scale in a short time, and offering support in regulatory and logistics issues. We implement state of the art technologies to successfully develop new intermediates in response to market demand. Where indicated, we also enter into technology partnerships. With the Diversa collaboration, new enzymes supplement our strong base in biotechnological processes," Rheude explained. BASF has more than twenty years of experience in the area of biocatalysis and uses biocatalytic processes to produce vitamins (e.g., vitamin B2), amino acids (e.g., lysine), and fine chemicals (e.g., chiral intermediates: ChiPros(TM)) using living cells or enzymes.
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Topic world Synthesis
Chemical synthesis is at the heart of modern chemistry and enables the targeted production of molecules with specific properties. By combining starting materials in defined reaction conditions, chemists can create a wide range of compounds, from simple molecules to complex active ingredients.
Topic world Synthesis
Chemical synthesis is at the heart of modern chemistry and enables the targeted production of molecules with specific properties. By combining starting materials in defined reaction conditions, chemists can create a wide range of compounds, from simple molecules to complex active ingredients.
