Engineering Enzymes for Green Manufacturing of Noncanonical Amino Acids
Christina Boville
CEO, Aralez Bio
At Aralez Bio, we have developed an enzymatic platform to synthesize noncanonical amino acids quickly, sustainably, and at low cost. We use directed evolution—the subject of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry—to evolve enzymes that can do this synthesis in a single step with minimal waste while easily mixing and matching chemical moieties for enhanced pharmaceutical diversity. Our proprietary enzymes catalyze a complexity-generating C–C bond-forming reaction with a broad range of readily available substrates, enabling us to manufacture more than 100 enantiopure amino acids at anywhere from mg to kg scale. Through increased efficiency and product scope, Aralez Bio supports the development and manufacture of new peptides more quickly and cleanly than ever before.