We are happy to announce the creation of an international network of scientific excellence to launch large-scale biocatalysis as an industrial technology, used within our production facilities in Italy and around the world.
The partnership, bringing together some of the most advanced expertise in the field of biocatalysis from both academic and industrial spheres, unites Olon Group, Biosphere — an Italian SME specialised in fermentation and industrial biotechnology — and the Biocatalysis Group of the Van’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS-Biocat) at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The HIMS-Biocat group, headed by Prof. Francesco Mutti, has pioneered ground-breaking research in enzyme engineering and the use of enzymes for performing novel, sustainable and “green” chemical reactions.
With the leading expertise implemented by the University of Amsterdam and Biosphere, it will be possible to identify the most effective enzyme for the type of reaction required before scaling up its production to industrial levels. Biosphere is an Italian leader in the sector, with a mission to implement biotechnology in industrial processes with a circular economy approach. We have acted as a catalyst and aggregator for international excellence, thanks to a rapid and flexible approach that enables us to introduce top expertise to our processes, quickly and sustainably, and make this available to our partners. In our vision, this is a first step that, over the coming years, will lead us to convert a portion of our existing reactions to biocatalysts, and to develop new reactions with this new technology. The partnership forms part of a wider Olon Group strategy involving long-term investment in the in-house development of advanced technology, applied in the production of active ingredients, with biotechnology as one of its highest priorities.
Bioconversion is the transformation of a substrate, catalysed by an either free or immobilized enzyme, obtained from cellular cultures followed by different type of purification depending of the grade of enzyme needed for the specific process.