Almac and DSM Collaboration Agreement in Biocatalysis Continues with Success

In October 2012, Almac announced a collaboration agreement with DSM Pharmaceutical Products, the custom manufacturing and technology business of Royal DSM N.V., in the field of biocatalysis to provide sustainable manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical industry, and is pleased to report the continuing success of the relationship, including the successful transfer of enzymes for enzyme screening, process development and scale-up manufacture.

The agreement grants both parties access to their enzyme platform technologies, services and expertise for the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Almac’s expertise in rapid enzyme identification, scale-up and implementation into early phase projects complements DSM’s experience and track record of over 30 commercial manufacturing bioprocesses run on a multi-ton scale. This gives customers of either party access to enzyme expertise and assets resulting in cost-effective, green processing at all phases of development from preclinical to commercial manufacturing scale. The collaboration also enables Almac to offer its customers a preferred partner for large-scale production.

Since then, Almac and DSM have initiated and completed multiple projects together in the fields of ketoreductase, transaminase, biooixdation and hydrolase. Having access to the largest portfolio of off-the-shelf enzymes has really aided in moving projects from conception to reality for customers of both companies.

Dr. Tom Moody, Head of Almac Biocatalysis, stated “The success of the projects undertaken between Almac and DSM already demonstrates there is a market for scalable green technologies to access difficult-to-make chiral chemicals. Cost remains a prevalent issue within the industry and the introduction of enzymes into processes earlier in the drug discovery pipeline helps to drive cost down as projects move forward. Our collaboration is delivering real rewards to clients from both a technical and financial perspective”.

Almac’s success in the biocatalysis field was further endorsed recently, by the completion of the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Queens University Belfast to develop, improve and embed bioprocesses in order to facilitate the delivery of novel products for its biocatalysis business. The project was awarded the highest grade of “Outstanding” by the KTP Grading Panel for its achievement in meeting KTP’s objectives.