Johnson Matthey announces partnership with Basecamp Research to accelerate the adoption of biocatalysis solutions
Expanding biocatalyst solutions will reduce energy use and waste in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries
12 Dec 2023
Johnson Matthey (JM), and Basecamp Research, a company involved in the mapping of biodiversity for computational bio-design, has announced its partnership to accelerate the adoption of more sustainable, bio-based catalysts.
Biocatalysts are used across a vast range of synthesis processes to form complex chemical structures in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and fine chemical industries. Biocatalysts are increasingly being adopted due to the important role they play in helping meet the more prominent sustainability goals of these industries. Compared to traditional catalysis, they can be more selective, less energy intensive and reduce the need for organic solvents.
One of the main hurdles to the widespread usage of biocatalysts in organic synthesis is the time-consuming search for suitable enzymes that deliver the desired catalytic performance. This typically involves multiple rounds of protein engineering and analysis.
The partnership between JM and Basecamp will focus on accelerating the process to find the right biocatalyst solutions that small molecule manufacturers can use for new product development. It will improve the quality and scope of biocatalysts available to the market, covering the most critical chemical transformations such as asymmetric reductions of ketones and chiral reductive amination, which are used to produce the fundamental building blocks in organic synthesis.
Basecamp Research has developed a unique knowledge graph of life on Earth with over six billion relationships between genes, genomes, environments, and other biologically relevant data. This biodiversity mapping tool, powered by AI-driven capabilities, is critical to the expansion of JM’s biocatalysis portfolio. Having new and diverse biocatalyst options will help reduce the development time and broaden the scope of applications.
JM has already licensed a broad substrate-scope active enzyme which was sampled from a natural source and selected by Basecamp Research. When genetic resources are collected from nature, it is important that all parties benefit from the use. In compliance with the Nagoya Protocol, Basecamp has passed on royalties to a conservation organization near the location of where the enzyme was discovered.