Dipping into nature’s own toolbox

The Silver Award went to JFC-Jülich Fine Chemicals GmbH, a typical representative of Europe’s White Biotech industry that specializes in the screening, development, production and application of new enzymes for biocatalytic processes, for its development of a method for obtaining (S)-Oxynitrilase from Manihot esculenta. (S)-Oxynitrilase permits the industrial scale production of chiral cyanhydrines, which are important intermediates for both pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. The first prize went to Sanofi-Aventis for its development of a method for the single-stage synthesis of hydrocortisone with recombinant yeast (see the cover story on page 10).
Synthesizing hydrocortisone — an ingredient in countless generics and important intermediate for today’s powerfully anti-inflammatory steroids — in a single-stage process has numerous advantages over conventional methods. Best of all, it renders superfluous the complex and time-consuming purification of intermediates, as production in the fermenter is invariably followed by the downstream process. The general rule of thumb in the pharmaceutical industry is that if the search for a new substance is long and tedious, its isolation and purification (or that of the intermediates) are likely to be no less problematic. This, after cell culture, is the stage with the highest value added.
One company that specializes in this field is Sartorius, whose new Purification Technologies division offers fully integrated solutions for biotech cell culture, purification and filtration on an industrial scale. Our article on page 18, for example, shows what enormous potential its membrane adsorbers have for substance purification. In February of this year, Sartorius was awarded the Frost & Sullivan Award for outstanding innovations in product differentiation in biotechnology in recognition both of its Biotech Division’s innovative business model and, above all, of its development of new technologies for downstream processing.
Whether today’s winner is JFC, Sanofi-Aventis or Sartorius, however, the ultimate winner is of course Biotechnology itself.
Dipping into nature’s own toolbox is now more worthwhile than ever.

- Dr. Jörg R. Kempf -