Benefits

Evolva’s technologies have three major benefits, each supported by several aspects.

1. Making existing compounds in new ways:

• Evolva’s technology can find new biosynthetic production routes
  Our combinatorial genetic approach means we do not need to know what a biosynthetic route is to create it. This allows us to create routes to compounds where it is not known how they are made. This allows us to address products that are different from others, and provides both a time advantage and protective intellectual property around the product. The approach can also be used to find routes that differ from those described in the literature or which are pursued by third parties.

• Can find optimal gene combinations for high yield
  Our combinatorial approach can also be used to optimise yield as a whole, automatically identifying which is the “best gene combination” for a particular pathway and even the optimal gene expression in each step of that pathway

• Natural production process with a simple sustainable supply chain
  Our focus organism, Baker’s yeast, is widely used in the large scale production of food and food ingredients.
  Our fermentation process offers reproducible, traceable production in controlled locations that can be placed close to the customer.

These benefits are of particular use in nutritional and consumer health applications, though they can also be used elsewhere.

2. Making novel, functional compounds:

• Evolva’s technology can be used to create new biosynthetic pathways by combining the genetic diversity of different species in new ways
• Our use of yeast means we can design and deploy “biologically rich” functional assays that measure amongst other things pathway read-outs, phenotypic responses; protein:protein interactions, etc.
• Our approach creates molecules that occupy a unique, functional chemistry space. A clear majority of the molecules we create are novel. However, at the same time the vast majority obey the rules of “drug-likeness” in terms of such characteristics as molecular weight, lipophilicity and stereochemistry.
  These benefits are of particular use in pharmaceuticals, though they can also be applied elsewhere.

3. The ability to selectively glycosylate products:

We are world leaders in the glycosylation of small molecules. The benefits of this are:

• We can make many food ingredients whose natural properties depend on their glycosylation patterns
• We can improve the bioavailability of molecules, whether they are ours, or our partners’. Hence improving their effectiveness in nutritional or pharmaceutical use (or allowing the same effect for a reduced amount of material)
• We can reduce the production costs of many molecules by increasing yields and simplifying extraction procedures