Novozymes Biopolymer, part of Novozymes, has won the Gold Innovation Award at CPhI worldwide conference in Frankfurt, Germany, for its form of hyaluronic acid (HA) Hyacare.
The CPhI Innovation Award is established as the showcase for exceptional work in developing research and technology, setting the standards for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.
The judging panel took into account a number of factors including effective development of the technology and its key benefits to the pharmaceutical industry.
Traditionally, HA is derived from rooster combs or from strains of pathogenic Streptococcal bacteria, which allows for a high degree of contamination by animal proteins, viruses and end toxins present in the bacterial genome.
Hyacare is developed under animal-free conditions with no animal derived ingredients used at any stage of the manufacturing process.
Novozymes Biopolymer developed this non-pathogenic method for producing HA by fermentation of a novel production strain, Bacillus subtilis.
The Bacillus strain is a well-characterised, endotoxin-free organism that is generally regarded as safe by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Animal-free ingredients offer an ethical, safe solution for the production of ingredients that form the basis of biological products.
Popularity of these ingredients is increasing as regulatory authorities begin to enforce strict quality measures on products to improve safety, particularly with potential contamination risks from pathogens such as viruses in animal-derived ingredients.
Hyacare is produced using Novozymes Biopolymer advanced and safe fermentation and purification technology, which results in a completely pure product.
While both rooster comb and Streptococcus derived HAs must be recovered using powerful organic solvents, this product is secreted outside the bacterial cell and can be collected using only water, eliminating the need for organic solvents.
Hyacare is used for a wide range of solubility applications in the pharmaceutical sector, including ophthalmology, wound healing and osteoarthritis as well as in cosmetics and anti-wrinkle creams.
