NIMES, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 4, 2005--Within the frame of its collaboration with Degussa, Proteus has discovered and developed a highly thermostable esterase biocatalyst from a Pyrococcus sp., thus opening novel perspectives in applications involving poorly soluble substrates or products such as for synthesis of specialty intermediates for cosmetics. An efficient, simple, and reliable production process using E. coli was developed. The process is robust and further upscaling to industrial scale was achieved. This together with the high esterase concentration and product recovery yield obtained, makes the Pyrococcus esterase economically competitive for the industrial production of fine chemicals. Detailed results are being published by Degussa and Proteus scientists in Engineering in Life Sciences, a peer-reviewed scientific journal(1).
