X-Genix, founded by Prof Rebecca Goss, was established to harness the power of enzymes to replace some of the less environmentally friendly steps in pharmaceutical production.

Challenge

Halogenation (adding chlorine, fluorine or iodine) is a process used by industry to produce 93% of all small molecule pharmaceuticals, with 26% of drugs having a halogen in the final product. Traditional processes to incorporate these elements into compounds require harsh chemicals and create difficulties in downstream purification of the products.

Solution

Prof Goss and her team developed a patented process to replace the harmful chemicals with carefully selected enzymes and salt. This process achieves the same result as traditional chemical techniques, but with a much lower environmental impact.

The translational potential of this project is being realised through projects enabled by funding partners including IBIOIC and Scottish Enterprise High Growth Spin Out. IBIOIC’s funding is enabling high through put approaches to be developed.

IBioIC funding, combined with a High Growth Spinout Programme award from Scottish Enterprise, is enabling the development of a high throughput assay to rapidly screen for enzymes useful for halogenation of a range of products.

Outcome

The cutting edge assay developed greatly improves X-Genix’s offering to its clients and is an important step on the route to successful spinout. The company is now in talks with a number of top global pharmaceutical companies which could revolutionise the way in which medicines including antibiotics are made.