DSM and LibraGen Sign Agreement to Co-Develop Transaminases for Production of Chiral Amines

Under the terms of the partnership, LibraGen will use its proprietary enzyme discovery and development to identify new enzymes for efficient conversion of a large spectrum of ketons into optically pure R- and S-amines, a compound class highly relevant for fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries.

DSM will produce the enzymes at industrial scale using DSM's fermentation capabilities and proprietary expression platform, PluGbug(TM). LibraGen will sell the enzymes in kit form and both parties will use them for screening activities and the development of biocatalytic processes for third parties.

"This collaboration with LibraGen grows the number of available large-scale biocatalysts and will contribute to increasing competitiveness of the transaminase technology for production of chiral amines" said Oliver May, Competence Manager Biocatalysis at DSM Pharmaceutical Products.

"In addition, by combining LibraGen's enzyme discovery and DSM's manufacturing capabilities the development timelines from enzyme discovery and screening to final product delivery to our customers will be significantly reduced" said Ronald Gebhard, R&D Director at DSM Pharmaceutical Products.

"We are delighted that we have signed this partnership with DSM," said Renaud Nalin, CEO of LibraGen. "It marks another step forward in the development of LibraGen's industrial biocatalysis capabilities. Customers of DSM and LibraGen will be able to use these new enzymes on a laboratory or industrial production scale to produce intermediates and APIs, thus making our response to market demands even more effective."

LibraGen expects this alliance to bring the company additional openings to provide its services to the fine chemicals, pharmaceutical and cosmetics customers, and to develop and optimize enzymatic synthesis processes for complex molecules.