In industries such as pharmaceuticals, enzymes are indispensable. Enzyme catalysis is also an essential technology at the heart of industrial biotechnology, expected to foster EU economic growth and industry leadership, while effectively addressing social, environmental, and economic needs. This also leads to more sustainable chemical processes, as well as new reactivities for building multifunctional products. Thus, it is paramount to explore innovative biocatalytic approaches in an interdisciplinary and application-oriented way.
The BiodeCCodiNNg Project
A new network is formed with a vision to provide a platform for organisations and doctoral students to search for new, sustainable biocatalysts. This doctoral network —f ormerly known as the innovative training network — brings together nine research institutions and ten companies in Europe to develop visionary leaders in sustainable enzyme technology. The network will include ten doctoral students between 2023 and 2026. It is to explore innovative approaches to biocatalysis in an interdisciplinary context in an application-oriented way. Industrial partners and specific research questions will determine the discovery, description, and application of new biocatalysts. As part of the process, the doctoral students will deepen aspects of their research by working with different partners in the network, gaining an understanding of different industrial and research institutions.
New catalytic approaches
The enzymatic catalytic processes developed in the network are intended to open up new chemical reactions that are not possible with current catalysts, for example in the drug synthesis field. The goal is to enable new industrial concepts by making these processes more sustainable. This network “BiodeCCodiNNG” hints at the types of chemical reactions involved: namely, those that form bonds between two carbon atoms (C-C bonds) or between two nitrogen atoms (N-N bonds).
Aim
This 2.7 million euro project aims to educate and train Europe's next generation of visionaries on cutting-edge enzyme technology centered on N-N and C-C bond formations, to tackle technology gaps and practical challenges, and to exploit synthetic opportunities with a great deal of innovation potential.
A network of world-leading experts from academic and industrial institutions will work together to implement the training agenda in Europe. This setting provides strong interdisciplinary co-supervision and intersectoral exposure in secondments to the doctoral candidates and bridges intersectoral and multidisciplinary boundaries across training in drug discovery, enzyme catalysis, and process development.
Consortium
The project involves in total 20 organization across Europe.
1. AstraZeneca
2. BASF
6. Purolite Healthcare & Life Sciences
7. SpinChem
9. CLIB - Cluster Industrielle Biotechnologie
11. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
12. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
16. Universität Graz
17. University of Zagreb/Sveuciliste u Zagrebu
18. InnophoreGmbH
19. ChiralVision BV
SpinChem AB's contribution
SpinChem is committed to setting up all the necessary infrastructure for its participation as an associated partner in the proposal. Decoding novel reaction chemistries in biocatalysis - Training Europe's next visionaries for a sustainable future - BiodeCCodiNNg.
SpinChem will participate in and contribute to the research, innovation, and training activities planned as part of this project. As part of the industrial secondment, SpinChem will train a doctoral candidate on the use of SpinChem reactor technology to scale the three-step cascade combining C-C and N-N ligation by coupling a ThDP-dependent carboligase with an N-hydroxylase and a piperazine synthase.
The BiodeCCodiNNg project will explore visions for a sustainable future on cutting edge enzyme catalysis, focusing on N-N and C-C bond formations to exploit synthetic opportunities within the pharmaceutical industry, among others. Thus, we will learn from nature, try to evolve further, and this will apply to new-to-nature products.
SpinChem is trilled to be part of this project. Read more about our services here or if you have any questions, please contact us below.