News Archives - Prozomix

15th February 2021 – The Prozomix team have successfully embarked on its 2021 Marine Expedition of UK waters.

The Prozomix team have successfully embarked, after two days of equipment tests, on a marine expedition of UK waters for the identification of novel biodiversity for future enzyme discovery. The expedition is set to last approximately 14 days and the goal is to sequence over 1 trillion base pairs of unique UK biodiversity, which will underpin the discovery of thousands of novel biocatalysts over the coming years.

We are pleased to announce the success of an application for a 4-year BBSRC iCASE Award, applied for by Northumbria University in conjunction with Prozomix, focussed on novel biocatalytic routes towards volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs).

The following is a full description of the project, as can be found on FindAPhD.com (www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx):

We are pleased to invite applications for a 4 year-BBSRC Industrial CASE PhD Studentship based at Northumbria University Newcastle and in collaboration with Prozomix Ltd. 

The studentship will commence in October 2015. 

In this fully-funded 4-year BBSRC ICASE project, we aim to develop a novel biocatalytic approach for the manufacturing of enantiomerically pure volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs). Foods and beverages contain, generally in trace amounts, a number of different VSCs possessing a strong and powerful odour and contributing to both agreeable and disagreeable flavours and fragrances. From a chemical point of view, VSCs are often chemically labile and, as a result, their manufacture can be challenging. VSCs can exist as chiral isomers and their olfactory perception may depend on their diastereomeric and enantiomeric form. For example the (R)-enantiomer of 3-thio-1-hexanol has a tropical fruit aroma, whereas its (S)-enantiomer has a sulphureous and herbaceous smell. The stereodifferentiation of chiral VSCs has a great impact on the flavour and quality of foods and thus the identification of methods for the production of enantiomerically pure ingredients is highly desirable. 

The proposed project aims to develop a sustainable biocatalytic approach for the manufacturing of new VSCs. In particular, the PhD candidate will explore the enantioselective synthesis of mercapto-carboxylic acids and amides using nitrilase and nitrile hydratase enzymes, respectively. Novel chemoenzymatic and enzyme-enzymatic cascade approaches involving monoamine oxidases will be developed as well. 

The student will be trained in techniques pertinent to the project such as organic synthesis, enzymatic synthesis and biotransformations, NMR spectroscopy, chromatography and mass spectrometry. In addition, the PhD candidate will be trained in aspects of the discovery, development and manufacturing of novel biocatalysts in collaboration with the industrial partner, Prozomix Ltd. Regular placements at Prozomix Ltd will be incorporated as part of the project, so providing research experience in a commercial environment. 

The project is due to commence October 2015 and is open to UK/EU* nationals only due to the nature of the funding. 
*Applicants must be UK/EU nationals who have resided in the UK since at least 1 September 2012 in order to qualify for full funding. 

Applicants should hold a first or upper second class honours degree (in a relevant subject) from a British higher education institution, or equivalent. Applicants, who have a first class or 2:1 or equivalent honours degree, or MChem or MSci in organic, pharmaceutical or food chemistry subjects or biochemistry, are encouraged to apply. Experience in catalysis and biocatalysis is desirable but not mandatory. 

Informal enquiries relating to the project and/or suitability should be directed to Dr Daniele Castagnolo(daniele.castagnolo@northumbria.ac.uk

To apply, contact PGR Admission to request the appropriate application form, quoting the advert reference above, via email to fc.pgr.admissions@northumbria.ac.uk or by using the application link on this page. 

Please include the following with your application: 

– Academic CV 

– Official academic transcripts + a personal statement (max 2 A4 pages) outlining your career intentions and your suitability for the project 

– Contact details for two suitable referees

Funding Notes:

The 4-year full-time studentship provides full support for UK/EU tuition fees and an annual tax-free stipend at RCUK rates (currently £13,863; in addition a £2,000 per year bonus will be provided by Prozomix).

The project is open to UK/EU nations only due to the nature of the funding.

Prozomix has begun developing in-house metagenome technologies that will enable rapid expansion of existing enzyme panels via supplementation with highly diverse biocatalysts. The new enzymes will only be available from Prozomix, as they will not be represented in the public genomic or metagenomic DNA databases. Given the very considerable effort by Prozomix scientists in sampling microbes from some of the most remote / unique UK environments, the company believes it very unlikely any other biocatalysis enzyme supplier will sample the same microbial populations. Additionally, equally careful consideration has been afforded to selectively culturing / enriching the 57 metagenome samples selected, thus making it most unlikely any of the microbes finally employed will have been / will ever be, isolated elsewhere.

The advantages of this new and exciting technology with respect to biocatalyst discovery are detailed here. Customers who are keenly awaiting the new catalysts should be offered their first Prozomix meta-GRASP panels by early 2015.

For further information, please contact sales@prozomix.com.

(project co-funded by)

Prozomix is pleased to announce that in collaboration with Northumbria University it has been awarded a further Technology Strategy Board Grant (Sustainable High-value Chemical Manufacture Through Industrial Biotechnology – Technical Feasibility Project “Development of Biocatalysis Tools for the Production of Cis-3-hexenol from Vegetable Oil Waste Streams”; Grant No. 131146). The project with total budget of £150 K will see the discovery of novel enzymes towards a three enzyme cascade yielding the flavour/fragrance compound cis-3-hexenol from common linseed oil. This compound is in increasing demand, yet the natural source is neither scalable or relaible, and thus a biocatalytic route could be highly lucrative. The project activities over 9 months will see feasibility established for the novel triple enzyme cascade, afterwhich interest from a commercial end-user will be sought to progress to practical application.

For further information, please contact info@prozomix.com.

In response to significant customer demand, Prozomix has successfully developed a scaled-out “Fermenter-in-a-flask” fermentation system to produce high-quality and reproducible enzymes for Biocatalysis processes and other applications. The enzyme powders produced are BSE-TSE Certified, and the whole production process uses animal-free ingredients and materials. Enzymes from the optimised fermentation system have already been employed in industrial biotechnology processes towards production of scaled quantities of API (active-pharmaceutical ingredient) for clinical trial use.

Please contact info@prozomix.com for further information.

We are delighted to announce a collaboration with CLEA Technologies B.V., an internationally recognised innovative leader in enzyme immobilisation and biocatalytic process development, that will combine the proven and powerful GRASP™ high-throughput novel biocatalyst development technology of Prozomix with advanced immobilisation technology. The result will be custom immobilisation services from CLEA Technologies for any enzyme (i.e. ketoreductases (KREDs) / alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs), EREDs, P450s, nitrilases, etc) from the Prozomix range not yet available in immobilised form.

Please see here for further information, or contact info@prozomix.com.

April 2nd, 2012 – Prozomix is delighted to announce the appointment of Meiji Seika Pharma Co., LTD., a Japanese public company, as our Exclusive Distributor in Japan. Meiji now hosts a Japanese version of the Prozomix enzyme catalogue and other content on their website, ensuring both good web visibility and efficient customer experience locally in Japan. With their great fundamental and applied knowledge of enzyme technology, in addition to industrial enzyme capability, this collaboration is an important milestone in our global marketing strategy.

Prozomix is pleased to announce that as part of a 17 strong academic / commercial EU consortium, it has been awarded a highly competitive research grant under the FP7-KBBE Programme. The €7.8 M “KYROBIO” Project (Grant No. 289646) aims to “discover, develop and demonstrate biocatalysts for use in the industrial synthesis of chiral chemicals”.  The specific role of Prozomix is to use it’s advanced enzyme capabilities in the discovery, development and commercialisation of novel nitrile hydratase biocatalysts. The work to be performed over a 4-year period will see the company apply it’s proprietary GRASP™ technology to this challenging class of enzyme, resulting in a large, novel and diverse panel of nitrile hydratases being developed, and offered commercially. Members of this new panel will become commercially available from mid / late 2012, including as part of the Prozomix Biocatalysis Enzyme Toolkit.

The other members of the KYROBIO consortium are BICTIngenzaCLEA TechnologiesBioInfoBank InstituteVTU TechnologyACIBUniversity of GrazX-ZymeevocatalBio-prodictUniversity of ManchesterCIKTNC-Tech InnovationUniversity of GroninganUniversity of Stuttgart, and the Technical University of Denmark.

Please contact info@prozomix.com for further information. 

In early 2011 Prozomix began the development of proprietary high-throughput cloning technology in response to the ever increasing requirement  for larger numbers of non-engineered natural (native) biocatalysis enzymes (KREDs / ADHs / EREDs / nitrilases / NHases / P450s, etc).  This early work was supported by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), by way of a Technology-Inspired Innovation Feasibility Study Grant.

It was during this ambitious research and development excercise, where 53 novel ketoreductase enzymes were developed in just 12 weeks,  that the Prozomix GRASP™ High-throughput Cloning approach was devised.

12 months later, proprietary GRASP™ methodology has resulted in rapid expansion of the Prozomix Biocatalysis Enzyme Toolkit to approx. 200 biocatalyst over all common classes of catalyst.

Prozomix is now marking the first anniversary of GRASP™ with a 3-month in-house project that will see the cloning of 1000 biocatalyst encoding genes.  These enzymes, carefully selected courtesy of the perpetual expansion of the Genomics database in order to evenly sample natural diversity, will make a significant contribution in this expanding area of industrial biotechnology, and further cement the global position of Prozomix as a cost-effective provider of Biocatalysis solutions.  The resultant expanded Biocatalaysis Enzyme Toolbox will be available in late 2012 to all customers.

Please contact info@prozomix.com for further information.  

Prozomix has combined its large scale fermentation, tangential flow filtration, and freeze-drying capacity, with a long history of working with enzymes of diverse nature, to offer cost-effective “Application-grade” recombinant enzyme preparations.  Enzymes can be selected from the Prozomix product database, produced from a customer’s own plasmid, or developed specifically, if no expression construct is currently available.  The latter service typically involves no additional cost for genes present within the large Prozomix genome sequenced strain collection (if not, a small additional charge of approx. US$500 may apply, dependent on target enzyme).  Typical lead times are less than 30 days where an expression construct already exists, or less than 45 days where one needs to be developed.

10 g of enzyme (crude freeze-dried powder) US$3000

10 g of enzyme (purified powder) US$3500

NOTE: both grades are sold strictly on a “not for re-sale” basis only.

Please contact us to request a quotation or for further information.