EnzBond launches to make fast, effective enzyme development a reality

EnzBond, a new biotechnology company from Oxford University, has been formed to commercialise in-silico technology, which makes utilising enzymes in drug manufacturing both cost-effective and time-efficient. At present, discovering the right enzymes for production in drug development can prove both prohibitively expensive and time consuming, as identifying the right enzyme is a trial and error process that can see companies go through potentially thousands of enzymes during the search. This prevents the penetration of enzymes in the industries like pharma where effective and green technologies are crucial. EnzBond's in-silico technology allows the company to examine the potential properties of these enzymes virtually, rapidly speeding up the process. Compared to rival biocatalyst discovery firms, EnzBond's technology has demonstrated itself to be at least ten times faster and far more accurate. The company is currently in discussions with utilising its product with major pharmaceutical, agricultural, cosmetic, and synthetic biology firms. Robert Simion, Chief Technology Officer at EnzBond, said: 'The potential to apply enzymes to current production methods not only opens up the potential of cleaner processes but also potentially significant reductions in cost for critical compounds such as antivirals and antibiotics.