Open AccessA Bio-logical Approach to Catalysis in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Author(s) -
Greg Mann,
Frédéric V. Stanger
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chimia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.387
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 2673-2424
pISSN - 0009-4293
DOI - 10.2533/chimia.2020.407
Subject(s) - biochemical engineering , pharmaceutical industry , biocatalysis , chemical space , nanotechnology , aqueous medium , drug discovery , chemical industry , chemistry , process (computing) , microbiology and biotechnology , catalysis , computer science , organic chemistry , engineering , materials science , aqueous solution , biology , biochemistry , ionic liquid , operating system
Enzymes have the potential to catalyse complex chemical reactions with unprecedented selectivity, under mild conditions in aqueous media. Accordingly, there is serious interest from the pharmaceutical industry to utilize enzymes as biocatalysts to produce medicines in an environmentally sustainable and economic manner. Prominent advances in the field of biotechnology have transformed this potential into a reality. Using modern protein engineering techniques, in a matter of months it is possible to evolve an enzyme, which fits the demands of a chemical process, or even to catalyse entirely novel chemistry. Consequently, biocatalysis is routinely applied throughout the pharmaceutical industry for a variety of applications, ranging from the manufacture of large volumes of high value blockbuster drugs to expanding the chemical space available for drug discovery.