Enzymes have been used in therapeutics syntheses because they offer higher product yields, require fewer steps, create fewer undesirable side products, produce final products with higher purity, and enable easier product recovery than traditional chemical syntheses. However, enzymes have limitations, including easy degradation, loss of activity over time, and the requirement of careful storage and handling, which limit their use in the manufacturing of therapeutics. Bondwell Technologies has developed a platform technology using functionalized enzyme-based materials that address these limitations. Our platform technology is based on our success in producing proteins that can self-assemble into biomaterials <i>in vitro</i>. Proteins with a wide range of physical properties that are incorporated into these biomaterials have been shown to be fully functional and significantly stabilized. Additionally, enzyme-containing biomaterials have retained their catalytic capabilities. Thus, our materials can be used to improve stability and handling of a variety of enzymes that are used in therapeutics manufacturing. In this work, we aim to produce therapeutics, including penicillin, cephalosporin C, amoxicillin, and melatonin, by incorporating the enzymes from the natural biosynthesis pathways into our biomaterials. We have successfully produced the enzyme-based biomaterials from the two natural pathways that produce such drugs. These enzymes are active and functional toward their natural substrates and are stabilized under different storage conditions. The enzymes were also remarkably reusable in our biomaterials.

Therapeutic biosynthesis by enzymatic protein based materials

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.