I’ve been seeing various news of biotechnology firms worldwide (I recently reported about Amyris) offering the production of hand sanitizing ingredients as well as other services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One company that I’m not familiar with is the Swedish life science company CELLINK, which focuses on the area of bioprinting human organs and tissues for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications. The company announced on March 31 that it has received an order for consumables for health care through an order from the National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden valued at a total of SEK5.2 million. Since the company has expertise and capacity to produce various gels used in the company’s bio-ink products, CELLINK has been working to adjust parts of its production to help with the COVID-19 pandemic, including the production of hand sanitizers and test equipment such as qPCR instruments and reagents.
Biotech company Circa Group based in York, UK, announced on 6 April that it is offering its levoglucosenone (LGO) manufacturing capability for experts looking for building blocks for coronavirus therapeutics ribonolactone. According to the company, LGO is reportedly an excellent starting material for the synthesis of biologically active compounds including those which have anti-cancer, anti-microbial or anti-inflammatory activity. This chiral molecule provides opportunities to access previously difficult-to-synthesise intermediates such as enantiopure dihydropyrans, deoxy-sugars and ribonolactone. Circa is currently producing LGO in tonne quantities in continuous process at its FC5 prototype plant in Tasmania, Australia with partner Norske Skog using waste cellulose feedstock. The company has been marketing LGO in bio-solvents under the brand Cyrene™, an alternative to traditional polar aprotic solvents.
I just had a very good interview with Circa and will write this up along with information on LGO, Cyrene™ and the market of bio-based solvents in the upcoming May issue of Tecnon OrbiChem’s Biomaterials newsletter (subscription-based).
Meanwhile In the USA, before shutting down its Soperton, Georgia unit on 27 March, LanzaTech’s Freedom Pines demo facility in Freedom Pines, Georgia, donated its ethanol stock from the facility to Colonial Chemical Solutions and OdoBan Products for the manufacture of hand sanitisers which were distributed to healthcare first responders throughout the Georgia state. LanzaTech, however, noted that its operations in China are currently ongoing.
In early March, the blog reported about synthetic biology company Ginkgo Bioworks which announced its $25 million commitment for free access to its platform in the development of a long-term solution to the COVID-19 crisis. Companies building treatments that can stop COVID-19 can now avail of Ginkgo’s services.
There are so many other biotech companies that announced their participation in helping out and in one hour of this publication (April 17, 2020 at 0800 Pacific Time), SynBioBeta is actually having a live roundtable webinar with several biotech companies discussing the latest antibody developments in the fight against COVID-19 including breakthroughs, bottlenecks, tech and regulatory hurdles, and the challenges to scale-up.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Tecnon OrbiChem just published my latest special report covering the COVID-19 pandemic (subscription only) and how the biofuels industry, as well as several renewable chemicals companies, have been helping out to minimize the horrific deaths caused by this pandemic. I will blog more on some of these companies.
For those who have been asking me about the potential effects of this pandemic on the bio-based chemicals market, I will be updating the Executive Summary and Market Review of my report ‘Commercialisation Updates on Bio-based Building Blocks’ which was published by Nova Institute in February.
