2-MBT active ester coupling technique avoids the safety issues associated with the widely used HOBt (1-Hydroxybenzotriazole) technology and offers a number of additional and significant advantages to the peptide industry, according to the firm. Benefits of the 2-MBT coupling agent over HOBt include a very significant reduction in raw material costs; improved solubility in typical processing solvents and no storage or transportation restrictions.
Reaxa's R&D team has shown the application and equivalence of 2-MBT thioesters for in-situ coupling procedures as a direct replacement for HOBt, with no change required to standard activation and coupling procedures.
"2-MBT fits Reaxa's agenda of safer, cleaner and more sustainable chemistry," commented the company's chief technology officer, Dr David Pears.
"We see the clear cost reduction benefits being particularly attractive for large volume peptide production, with the technology accessed on a sub-licensed basis," he added.
In addition to sub-licensing 2-MBT technology to peptide manufacturers, Reaxa offers a range of specialist services to support peptide drug discovery and process development - based largely on stakeholder Avecia's expertise in Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis.
Reaxa's lead business area is catalysis chemistry, based on a twin-track strategy to simplify processes, reduce metal contamination in products and process waste and aid catalyst recovery and re-cycling. The firm has a range of encapsulated catalysts (EnCat) as well as scavenging resins (QuadraPure) to improve clean-up in conventional, homogeneous chiral and non-chiral catalysis.
New EnCat catalysts and QuadraPure resins are in development for 2005/06 launch. Reaxa's new catalyst R&D programmes include nano particulate metal zero hydrogenation catalysts, chiral catalysts and biocatalyst immobilisation.
2-MBT was developed by Reaxa scientists and is one of a basket of technologies transferred or sub-licensed to Reaxa by Avecia - from which the new company was successfully spun-out in June this year.