CHAIN announces a new partnership agreement with TdeltaS Ltd
An Oxford based nutritional company, TdeltaS Ltd (TΔS®), has developed and commercialised a proprietary ketone ester, which can be used as a food to improve human physical performance and cognitive function in health and disease. The Company’s product, ΔG®, is a ketone monoester that is marketed by HVMN Inc. in the USA for use in their sports drink for improved training, endurance performance and recovery following exercise.
CHAIN Biotech has engineered Clostridium bacteria to produce the chiral chemical building blocks needed to manufacture ΔG®. CHAIN’s “chiral switch” technology supports a fermentation route to the chiral biochemicals, (R)-1,3 butanediol and (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate, from renewable sugar-based feedstocks. The latter is a ‘ketone body’ produced naturally by the liver from fatty acids when fasting or through adopting a high fat ketogenic diet.
The partnership involves an 18-month project focusing on both strain and process improvements to optimise the manufacturing bioprocess and drive down the manufacturing costs of the chemical intermediates. The aim is to deliver a robust fermentation bioprocess that supports a sustainable and cost-effective route to manufacture.
“I am delighted that we are working with Professor Kieran Clarke on this innovative nutritional product. The project opens up new market opportunities for our bio-derived chiral chemicals and supports further development work on our microbiome therapeutics. CHAIN will benefit from Kieran’s world leading expertise on (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate, a highly dynamic molecule with tremendous potential in a broad range of nutritional and therapeutic applications” said Dr Edward Green, Founder and Chief Executive, CHAIN Biotechnology Ltd.
“I am very excited to be starting this project with CHAIN Biotech, a company that has considerable expertise with Clostridia bacteria and unique skills in microbiology, engineering biology and fermentation. CHAIN’s innovative and patented “chiral switch” technology supports cost-competitive production of the chiral building blocks we need to manufacture ΔG®. Both companies share a vision around the nutritional and therapeutic benefits of (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate” said Professor Kieran Clarke, Founder and Chief Executive, TΔS® Ltd.
About CHAIN Biotechnology
CHAIN is a UK microbiome therapeutics company founded by biotech entrepreneur Dr Edward Green. The team is based at MediCity, Nottingham, with a head office in Marlow. CHAIN has built a proprietary and highly differentiated drug development platform (CADD™) based on a single, but highly effective, Clostridium strain. The platform enables targeted, safe and controllable drug delivery to the colon. CHAIN’s live biotherapeutic products have significant advantages, including ease of manufacture, low cost of goods and stability of the product.
CHAIN’s unique genetic engineering capability is used to add therapeutic functionality, with a platform that supports a pipeline of therapeutic candidates addressing multiple diseases associated with the human gut microbiome. For example, CHAIN’s lead asset is a novel microbiome therapeutic based on an engineered Clostridium strain that produces and delivers (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate directly in the gut. We capitalise on the molecule’s anti-inflammatory properties targeting inflammatory bowel disease. More recently, the company has expanded its work to include vaccines and cancer therapies.
About TdeltaS (TΔS®)
TΔS® was founded in 2005 by Professor Kieran Clarke, Chair of Physiological Biochemistry at the University of Oxford. Building on research at the University, the Company was established to develop and commercialise a proprietary ketone monoester, ΔG®, which can be used as a food to improve human physical performance and cognitive function in health and disease. ΔG® is an entirely new food group offering great promise in a wide range of applications, from sports track to glycaemic control. This revolutionary nutraceutical has shown great promise in sports drinks – for training, endurance performance and recovery following exercise. By directly influencing metabolic function, this new food group increases power output and decreases physical fatigue. Human studies have been published in over 20 high-impact, peer-reviewed papers.
The synthesis and manufacture of ΔG® draws directly on pioneering research carried out at the University of Oxford and the National Institutes of Health. ΔG® is protected by a global patent and trademark portfolio. Currently, ΔG® is marketed by HVMN Inc. in the USA in a sports drink that improves training, endurance performance and recovery following exercise.