Enzyme search and enzyme engineering for industrial biotechnology

Overview

Innophore uses cavity-first computational discovery and structure-guided engineering to identify and optimise enzymes for industrial biocatalysis.

The method focuses on the active-site cavity—the 3D environment responsible for catalysis, rather than sequence similarity alone. Catalophore™ point-cloud technology helps identify candidates with suitable activity, substrate scope, selectivity, stability, and process compatibility.

Technical Specifications

• Cavity search: Active sites are represented as 3D point clouds and matched against structural databases, customer sequences, homology models, and metagenomic data.
• Physicochemical matching: Comparisons consider electrostatics, hydrophobicity, accessibility, hydrogen-bonding potential, elasticity, and other local properties.
• Enzyme engineering: Focused variant libraries target activity, turnover, substrate scope, regio- and stereoselectivity, thermal/pH/solvent stability, and reduced byproducts.
• Computational workflows: Structural modelling, molecular-dynamics validation, in silico mutagenesis, docking, and machine-learning-assisted ranking may be applied.
• Genome mining: Sequence data can be analysed through ORF scanning, structural modelling, and cavity-based matching against catalytic motifs.

TRL and Validation

Innophore’s methods are used in industrial biotechnology engagements and supported by more than ten years of peer-reviewed biocatalysis publications. The core cavity point-cloud method is protected by granted patents.

The methods cover oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, and ligases, with additional work on polymerases. The platform delivers ranked candidates and variant hypotheses for experimental follow-up. Final performance must be validated under relevant process conditions.

Partnership Opportunities

• Enzyme discovery: Find candidates for a target reaction, substrate, or catalytic function.
• Enzyme engineering: Optimise enzymes for activity, stability, selectivity, or substrate range.
• Process-specific biocatalysis: Prioritise enzymes for defined pH, temperature, solvent, concentration, and scale requirements.
• Genome mining: Search internal or public microbial sequence data.
• Freedom to operate: Explore structurally distinct enzyme candidates and design-around strategies.
• Wet-lab follow-up: Optional expression, testing, and scale-up through partner CMOs.

Deliverables may include ranked candidates with structural rationale, structural files, active-site models, mutation lists, and reports. Customers retain IP rights to enzymes and variants delivered through an engagement.

Biotechnology services · Catalophore technology