BRAIN, Bayer Schering Collaborate On Steroid Production Optimisation

The goal of the collaboration is the energy-efficient and thus sustainable fermentative production of steroid compounds, using optimised microbial production strains taking plant derived raw materials as starting material.

The companies said that within the strategic collaboration, existing production processes will be optimised using highly developed micro-organisms. With these so-called ‘designer bugs’, the goal is to achieve a higher yield by a reduced energy input. This will lead to an increase of efficiency in the production process coupled to a reduction of the output of green house gases.

Simone Kardinahl, head of microbiological production and development within the Bergkamen plant of Bayer Schering Pharma, said: “The industrial use of biotechnologically optimised micro-organisms will help us to improve the processes for the conversion of steroidal intermediates and to save resources. The collaboration with Brain supports and accelerates our own development activities within this segment”.

Jurgen Eck, CTO of BRAIN, said: “Modern molecular biology technologies within the field of Systems Biology enable us to selectively take action on the genome of existing production strains. Here single, the overall product yield limiting genes will be substituted or modulated. It is the goal of the collaboration to enable and to use these ‘designer micro-organisms’ in the production process for more efficient conversions of steroidal intermediates. For Brain the expansion of the collaboration with partner Bayer Schering is a continuation of the strategic co-operation business with globally successful partners.”