ZYMVOL lands in Boston, expands towards health-related enzyme projects
The company plans to continue pushing forward the development of in silico enzyme discovery and design projects in the United States, especially in the area of the Life Sciences
After giving its first steps towards the North American market in 2021, the Barcelona-based ZYMVOL has officially established itself with an office space in CIC-One Broadway, Cambridge (MA), USA. The company plans to continue pushing forward the development of in silico enzyme discovery and design projects in the United States, especially in the area of the Life Sciences.
Dennis Hutchison, President of ZYMVOL Inc, will be the main responsible of the North American office. In March 2021, Dennis joined the team with the goal of helping ZYMVOL create and implement its strategy to enter the US market. “In the last year, ZYMVOL has proven that it can undertake challenging projects, with successful results, while continually enhancing its technology to remain at the fore-front of innovation”, states Dennis. “I’m very excited to be part of this expansion, and eager to provide new solutions to our clients”.
ZYMVOL’s expansion through the US market comes as a natural response to its recent growth as a company. It has gone from being an only service-based company to also developing its own set of products (e.g. Alcohol dehydrogenases, Peroxygenases), as well as updating its ZYMEVOLVER technology to include new features and fine-tune its properties.
While the need for greener chemical processes keeps rising around the world, ZYMVOL’s computational enzyme discovery and engineering technology has proven to be a powerful ally in providing industrial biocatalysts that are both effective and sustainable.
As ZYMVOL’s CEO and co-founder Maria Fátima Lucas declares: “We believe the US market holds a lot of opportunities for new computational enzyme design & discovery campaigns, with its high number of life sciences, biotech, and overall research-focused companies. It’s an amazing opportunity and we’re looking forward to making the most of it”.
Enzymes that improve human health
Aside from meeting industrial needs, enzymes can also be drivers of change in the medical sector and quite literally make a difference in patients’ lives. With the hope of advancing in this area, one of ZYMVOL’s goals for the coming years is to expand its services towards health-related projects that can benefit from enzyme discovery and design.
To make this goal a reality, ZYMVOL will participate in the US-based, Life Sciences accelerator BioTools Innovator, after being selected one of the top 14 leading biotech companies developing solutions to advance research & improve human health.
Together with the senior leadership teams of its corporate partners at Research Corporation Technologies, Broad Oak Capital Partners, Nissan Chemical America Corporation, and over 30 industry judges from leading life science firms, BioTools Innovator evaluated the pitches of 26 candidates out of more than 160 applicants from 23 countries and 28 U.S. states. Fourteen companies were then selected to participate in the BioTools Innovator Accelerator, which prominently features best-in-class life science start-ups from around the world.
Starting July, ZYMVOL will participate in the four-month virtual program that will feature customised mentorships and support from senior industry leaders. Once the program is over, five of the fourteen companies will be selected to compete in a final competition that will bring together senior executives, investors, and top industry decision-makers for a chance to win a $250,000 non-dilutive grand prize and the title of 2022 BioTools Innovator.