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Carbiotix utvärderar nytt enzym i sin tillverkningsprocess

Carbiotix utvärderar nytt enzym i sin tillverkningsprocess

25 mars, 2021

Foodtech-bolaget Carbiotix har utvecklat nästa generations prebiotiska fibrer som ska ingå som en ingrediens i livsmedel för att skapa en bättre tarmhälsa. I veckan meddelade bolaget att man ska utvärdera ett nytt enzym i framställningsprocessen från en potentiell strategisk partner. BioStock fick möjlighet att ställa några frågor till vd Kristofer Cook om vad nyheten innebär för bolaget.

Spotlight-noterade Carbiotix har utvecklat en prebiotisk fiber som har visat sig vara väsentligt mer effektiv i att skapa en hälsosam tarmmiljö jämfört med de fibrer som idag finns tillgängliga. Med andra generationens prebiotiska fibrer öppnar det möjligheter för bolaget på en marknad som enligt en analys årligen omsätter 5 miljarder EUR.

Utvärdering av ett nytt enzym

Carbiotix har en pågående process att få bolagets AXOS-fibrer godkända i USA enligt GRAS Self Affirmation som ingrediens i livsmedel.

I framställningen av fibrerna, har bolaget använt ett egenutvecklat enzym för att hydrolysera förbehandlat majskli. Nu ska Carbiotix utvärdera ett nytt enzym från samma enzymfamilj, som kommer från ett ledande bolag i branschen, tillika en potentiell strategisk partner.

Genom att inkludera det nya enzymet i produktionen, kan det påskynda den regulatoriska processen, både i USA och i Europa, jämfört med om man hade fortsatt med det egna enzymet.

Produktionsstart till hösten

Carbiotix kommer således att göra en grundlig utvärdering av det nya enzymet och därefter anpassa tillverkningsprocessen. Därför kommer den planerade starten av den storskaliga produktionen i Bjuv att skjutas framåt till den senare delen av 2021.

»Starting a business relationship with the potential strategic partner in question is really about taking one step back to move three steps forward.«

Vd kommenterar

BioStock kontaktade vd Kristofer Cook för att få en kommentar om nyheten.

Kristofer, change of enzymes will cause a delay in the short term, what do you think will be mid and long terms effect of the change?

– As I communicated, the decision to evaluate and prepare to include this new enzyme in our regulatory dossiers was based on the fact that this enzyme will allow us to accelerate more demanding regulatory approvals in the US and EU and thus come to market quicker across all planned modulator product groups. We need to ensure consistency across all regulatory dossiers and products, otherwise we will need to redraft dossiers wasting both time and money.

– The reason we developed our own enzyme in the first place was due to the fact no commercially available enzyme, with the same performance and falling within the scope of our IP, existed. This is no longer the case and was confirmed after an initial evaluation and discussion with the party in question during Q1.

– We would much rather be a company focusing on diagnostics and modulator sales and not the production of enzymes, as this is not our core business. Saying this, our own enzyme will always serve as a back-up that we can make available if necessary and has allowed us to build internal capabilities that we will use to explore new enzymes going forward connected to new potential prebiotic candidates, which in turn may create collaborative opportunities with the potential strategic partner in question.

– Overall, I am very optimistic about this development and our ability to integrate this new enzyme into the scale-up of our process.

What financial impact will this have on Carbiotix?

Kristofer Cook, vd Carbiotix

– The financial impact in the short term will be very limited given the fact that our process is only at pilot scale, thus limiting the amount of lost revenues. In the medium to long term, I envisage the financial impact will likely be very positive.

– We will be able to ensure a greater security of enzyme supply at a competitive cost and be able to reach market quicker and thus scale-up our process and top line growth quicker. Thus, this news should be regarded as having a positive financial impact on the company over the long run.

– Moreover, the shift in our regulatory and scale-up time plan should not create any financial distress given the proceeds recently taken in during February from the warrant series 2020/2021 (”TO1”).

Finally, you stated that the enzyme provider is a potential strategic partner – could you elaborate on this?

– I am always looking for new opportunities to grow Carbiotix and place the company in a stronger strategic position going forward. Starting a business relationship with the potential strategic partner in question is really about taking one step back to move three steps forward. Not only could this partner create a dependable supplier relationship for enzymes but also open the door to other collaboration opportunities with regards to new prebiotics, diagnostics and medical food and therapeutic co-intervention applications.

– There are not many enzyme companies on the market that are both global and heavily investing in B2B microbiome solutions. Carbiotix technology leadership position in the microbiome diagnostics and prebiotics areas would be extremely complementary to the activities of the party in question.

– These opportunities could not be explored if we did not pursue a business relationship with this company, so not only are we finding a more cost effective and sustainable solution regarding enzyme supply, but also exposing Carbiotix to a leader in the B2B microbiome solutions space.

– There will be much consolidation and growth in this industry going forward and positioning Carbiotix as a collaborative partner, leveraging our strengths, will help guarantee our long-term success and growth in the value of Carbiotix share price. I encourage investors to take a step back and view this news from this wider context.

 

Innehållet i BioStocks nyheter och analyser är oberoende men BioStocks verksamhet är i viss mån finansierad av bolag i branschen. Detta inlägg avser ett bolag som BioStock erhållit finansiering från.

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