DSM and Diversa Corporation sign biocatalyst development agreement

Dutch company DSM Pharma Chemicals (DPC) and US-based Diversa Corporation have entered into a collaborative agreement to discover and develop biocatalytic solutions designed to simplify and lower the cost of a variety of chemical transformations.

Under the terms of the agreement, DPC will identify the targeted chemical conversions and Diversa will work to develop appropriate biocatalysts. Subsequently, DPC will scale up these processes to manufacture pharmaceutical intermediates and active ingredients. Diversa will receive research and development payments and be entitled to milestones and royalties on products commercialised by DPC.

Biocatalysis has increasingly become the technology of choice to introduce chirality in fine-chemical processes. The use of biocatalysts often leads to less complex syntheses, lower production costs, and more sustainable production processes. To date, DSM has developed more than 25 industrial- scale production processes using enzymatic catalysis, while Diversa's proprietary technology for discovering and optimising proteins has delivered solutions for a range of applications within the pharmaceutical, agricultural and chemical industries.

'Biocatalysis is clearly one of our core technologies in chemical custom manufacturing,' said Dr Ronald Gebhard, r&d director of DSM Pharma Chemicals. 'As this field is rapidly developing and expanding, we expect that this relationship with Diversa will further leverage our leading position in industrial biocatalysis.'