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CassaFLOW Consortium: Accelerating sustainable flow biocatalysis in Europe

SpinChem is a core industry partner in the EU‑funded cassaFLOW consortium advancing continuous, enzyme‑driven flow manufacturing to make complex pharmaceuticals and amino‑acid building blocks faster, cleaner, and closer to patients in Europe. 

SpinChem and cassaFLOW partners enabling continuous biocatalysis for pharmaceutical manufacturing in Europe

What is cassaFLOW and why it matters to biocatalysis leaders

Pharmaceutical molecules often traverse multiple continents with labor‑intensive isolation and transport between steps. CassaFLOW tackles this by integrating enzymatic steps in continuous flow to reduce downstream processing and waste, while enabling complex transformations in fewer steps. The aim: large‑scale, sustainable European production of high‑value pharmaceutical intermediates.

Core approach:

  • Reducing the downstream processing (DSP) between steps: DSP involves labour-intensive steps such as isolation, purification, packaging and transportation of products. To do so, we propose the use of flow chemistry. By integrating different steps in a continuous process via the usage of sustainable enzyme carriers which allow for immobilization of enzymes, the production can be executed more efficiently and sustainable flow.
  • Introducing complex chemical modifications in a single step: most pharmaceutical drugs are complex molecules which require highly regulated and precise synthetic steps. These can be facilitated by using enzymes, which are specific to a certain type of reaction and act ascatalysts.In our project, we investigate new enzymes as catalysts in chemical reactions, in order to decrease the number of steps required to obtain the intermediate products, and eventually, final drug products.

Outcome: fewer unit operations, lower solvent and waste, faster tech transfer from lab to plant

This project is funded by the European Innovation Council

cassaFlow project funded by the European Innovation Council

 

 

 

More information

cassaFLOW project overview and publications:  Learn more

How SpinChem contributes

SpinChem brings engineering for intensification of biocatalytic processes, building on our expertise in reactor design and enzyme immobilization workflows. In cassaFLOW we collaborate with leading academic and industrial groups to translate novel enzymes and telescoped chemistries into robust flow operations suitable for GMP‑adjacent environments.

Partner institutions in The CassaFLOW Consortium

Academic leaders:

Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Prof. Ulf Hanefeld — ONE‑FLOW reaction telescoping and flow chemistry foundations. Website

Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Prof. Jan van Hest — Polymer and hybrid materials for advanced biocatalysis. Website

Bielefeld University, Prof. Harald Gröger — Biocatalysis and chemoenzymatic synthesis expertise. Website

Industrial partners:

ChiralVision — Enzyme immobilization and sustainable carrier materials for fine chemicals. Website

SpinChem — Engineering for intensification of biocatalytic processes. Website

Industry advisors:

Bachem • Evonik • BASF • Symeres • Jiuzhou Pharmaceutical • GSK

What we are building together

  • A revolutionary process for synthesizing non‑natural amino acids with two stereocenters in flow
  • Integration of new enzymes as catalysts to condense multi‑step routes into fewer, higher‑yield steps
  • Scalable immobilization strategies and carriers for long‑lived, high‑productivity reactors

Common Questions

How does cassaFLOW aim to reduce DSP?

By integrating steps in a continuous line with immobilized enzymes, eliminating intermediate isolations and transports.

What is European Innovation Council (EIC)?

The European Innovation Council (EIC) was established by the European Commission in 2021 following a 3 years successful pilot phase. It has a mission to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and disruptive innovation. It has a budget of over €10 billion for the period 2021-2027.

The funding and support is organised into three main funding schemes covering all technology readiness levels: EIC Pathfinder for advanced research to develop the scientific basis to underpin breakthrough technologies; EIC Transition to validate technologies and develop business plans for specific applications; and the EIC Accelerator to support companies (SMEs, start-ups, spin-outs and in exceptional cases small mid-caps) to bring their innovations to market and scale up. The Accelerator provides a combination of grant support and direct equity investments in companies through a dedicated EIC Fund, which also provides a platform for co-investments with other investors.

For all schemes, the direct financial support is augmented with access to a range of Business Acceleration Services.

The strategy and implementation of the EIC is overseen by the EIC Board of twenty individuals from the innovation ecosystem (academia, business, investment, ecosystem builders). The EIC also employs dedicated Programme Managers with high level expertise in their fields, to set the challenges and proactively manage portfolios of projects towards technological breakthroughs.

How do SpinChem Rotating Bed Reactors improve API manufacturing processes?

The RBR technology offers a robust platform for developing and deploying biocatalysis at scale. This enables API producers to adopt the latest developments in manufacturing, and create greener processes. Immobilized enzymes have never been more deployable.

➡️ Making biocatalysis pay off

Who are the partners in The CassaFLOW innovative consortium?

We are composed of experts from European research organisations and promising SMEs, supported by the European Innovation Council.

The experts from Delft University of Technology (Prof. Ulf Hanefeld), Eindhoven University of Technology (Prof. Jan van Hest) and Bielefeld University (Prof. Harald Gröger) have successfully worked together to develop the innovative reaction telescoping and flow chemistry ONEFLOW technology, a key element which cassaFLOW will build upon.

Two experienced industrial partners, Chiralvision and SpinChem will contribute with their expertise in enzyme immobilization, sustainable carrier materials and fine chemicals (Chiralvision) and engineering for intensification of biocatalytic processes (SpinChem).

Talk to us

Are you interested in implementing biocatalysis and curious about how SpinChem rotating bed reactor technology can benefit your processes?