Myths about biocatalysts every manufacturer should ignore

Published: 21-May-2018

Piramal Pharma Solutions has released a whitepaper commenting that a misunderstanding in the pharmaceutical community about the capabilities and limitations of biocatalysis is giving way to hesitation about its adoption

All aspects of the drug development process are highly regulated to minimise risks to quality and reproducibility of pharmaceutical products.

As a result, drug manufacturers face a long and arduous process to commercialise a drug, leading the pharmaceutical industry to be skeptical of, or even reject, innovative new approaches to drug development.

The risks associated with straying from what has been tried and tested are often believed to outweigh any potential benefits a change might offer.

Nonetheless, it is in the best interest of manufacturers to do their due diligence when considering new methods that could offer the increased efficiency they desire.

One growing area of interest where some remain skeptical is biocatalysis, which is simply the use of biological catalysts (enzymes) rather than conventional chemical catalysts or reagents to carry out synthetic reactions.

But why use enzymes when conventional chemistry has been carried out for decades using simple reagents like strong acids and iron filings?

Click here to to access the full white paper.

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