Enzymicals AG and Herbrand PharmaChemicals GmbH Cooperate for Biotechnological Production of Pharmaceuticals and Intermediates

• Cooperation for GMP-compliant production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API’s)
• Extension of the process development and „Route-Scouting“ by biocatalysis and biotransformation
• biocatalytic production of fine chemicals in gram up to ton scale

GENGENBACH & GREIFSWALD, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--"We are happy to establish processes from development via production to market entry together with Herbrand PharmaChemicals" states Dr. Menyes from Enzymicals AG while visiting the running production sites of Herbrand PharmaChemicals GmbH, where soon biocatalytic processesfor the production of fine chemicals will be integratedintothe portfolio ofproduction technologies.Both German companies agreed on a cooperation and put together their competence and capacities for this production of fine chemicals.

“We can synthesizefinal products in top quality from a few kilograms up to several tons per year”

This agreement allows both partners to jointly use their current resources in development and production and to hence seamlessly close the value-added chainfor biocatalytic processes. "The opportunities at Herbrand PharmaChemicals GmbH will enable us to perform large scale production processes in Germany under GMPconditions and thus to meet the requirements of our customers with respect to quality and timely delivery“ adds the CEO of the Biotech-start-up from Greifswald, who also sees the next logical step in the development of his company in this contract. Especially chiral intermediates of pharmaceutical substances can now be produced in Gengenbach in a highly selective manner under mild reaction conditions using the enzyme portfolio of Enzymicals AG. Within this cooperation, the Greifswald team will develop the enzyme catalysis step for the production scale and provides the required amounts of biocatalysts for the large scale synthesis. The specialists at Herbrand Pharma-Chemicals GmbH then establish the biocatalytic production under GMPconditions and the world-wide distribution of the final products. „Herbrand PharmaChemicals GmbH now expands its product portfolio taking advantage of the opportunities within 'white biotechnology' and thus takes a new position at the market" concludes Mr. Köhlmann from Herbrand PharmaChemicals GmbH. He also looks forward to take advantage of the synergistic effects within this agreement. "We can synthesizefinal products in top quality from a few kilograms up to several tons per year" states the head of production. A range of applications, especially to obtain enantiomerically pure building blocks and for regiospecific reactions of demanding substrates are currently evaluated for implementation at the Gengenbach plants. "The cooperation with Enzymicals is the starting point for a successful future for both companies" Mr. Köhlmann concludes.

Enzymicals AG

The Enzymicals AG, Greifswald, was founded as a start-up company in August 2009, initialized by the workgroup of Prof. Uwe Bornscheuer, Institute of Biochemistry at the University of Greifswald. The company specializes in enzymatic reactions for the production of fine and specialty chemicals and the manufacture and sale of biocatalysts.

The interdisciplinary team of biochemists, biologists, synthetic and process chemists is led by Dr. Ulf Menyes (chemist) as chief executive officer (CEO) and Dr. Rainer Wardenga (biologist) as head of research and production (CSO).

The Enzymicals AG has established collaborations with leading companies in the chemical industry like for example Evonik, Lonza, Sigma-Aldrich, BRAIN and other undisclosed partners within a short period of time. Technical requirements are set in company for the production of enzymes and for the biotechnological synthesis of specialty and fine chemicals on kg-scale.

Herbrand PharmaChemicals GmbH

HPC, Herbrand PharmaChemicals GmbH, is located in Gengenbach at the Black Forest, Germany, and is a specialized production facility for fine chemicals mainly used in pharmaceutical industry.