The promise of producing renewable chemicals and fuels from biocatalysts is alluring, but the expense of biotechnology can make it difficult for these products to be economically competitive. Last month, BioSyntha, a metabolic engineering company specializing in organisms that can catabolize cheap feedstock, merged with ZuvaChem, a microbial engineering company that biosynthesizes polymer precursors. The newly formed ZuvaSyntha aims to integrate the strengths of these two companies to produce feedstock for the synthetic rubber industry that is both renewable and cost effective.

ZuvaSyntha Takes Advantage of C1 Feedstocks

Biosyntha began three years ago mainly as a contract research company, providing expertise in metabolic pathway engineering and fermentation scale-up. BioSyntha’s characteristic advantage over other metabolic engineering companies was its ability to utilize inexpensive C1 feedstocks. I spoke with Steve Martin, BioSyntha’s CEO who will now be leading ZuvaSyntha. He explained:

“One of the largest cost factors in renewable production is the feedstock.”

But BioSyntha was engineering microorganisms that survive on the cheapest carbon sources: C1 feedstocks such as methanol and synthesis gas (abbreviated syngas and composed of CO/CO2 + H2). Syngas can be inexpensively produced from natural gas or through gasification of coal, biomass or carbon containing waste. As such, it is an extremely versatile carbon source that is not dependent on land and food resources, unlike sugarcane or corn, and can utilize waste gas from industrial processes.

C1 carbon sources are inexpensive and highly versatile feedstocks for bioproduction.

Acetogens Can Produce Renewable Chemicals and Fuels More Efficiently

Many microbial biocatalysts are unable to utilize carbon monoxide and methanol, but the bacterial strains in BioSyntha’s toolkit can thrive using them as their sole carbon source."We’re using acetogenic bacteria, evolved to be highly efficient with energy and with substrates", said Steve Martin, CEO, ZuvaSyntha.Acetogens, many of which can naturally metabolise CO or methanol, anaerobically convert CO2 and an electron source (such as CO or H2) to acetate, which can be shunted into engineered biosynthesis pathways.BioSyntha had the expertise to engineer these organisms to improve their metabolism of C1 feedstocks and more efficiently produce renewable chemicals and fuels. They have also tackled the technical challenges of using poorly soluble, gas phase carbon sources in their bioreactors.

What’s next?

The merger of BioSyntha with ZuvaChem last month spells a change for the scientists and engineers involved in this technology. While BioSyntha primarily sold service contracts, the new ZuvaSyntha aims to focus on their own proprietary microbial production technologies.The merger combines BioSyntha’s expertise in cheap C1 feedstock utilization with ZuvaChem’s experience in microbial production of commodity chemicals. “We are excited to complete this merger that recognises the synergies between the two companies,” said Philip Goelet, CEO of Acidophil LLC, which founded ZuvaChem.Leading up to the merger, ZuvaChem had focused on the biochemical synthesis of synthetic rubber precursors. ZuvaSyntha will build off of both companies’ history, with a lead proprietary program to convert syngas to 1,3-butadiene for cheap, renewable rubber. Butadiene is important component in the production of rubber, plastics and copolymers such as acrylic. This project will be fueled by funding secured from Acidophil Investors III, Rainbow Seed Fund (RSF) and Oxford Technology 4 VCT as part of the merger contract. The company is also seeking collaborations with new industrial partners to develop biosynthetic pathways to new products.

Alex Pudney, Synthetic Biology Team Leader at ZuvaSyntha, speaking at SynBioBeta London 2015.