Genencor Awarded $2 Million Contract for Biodefense Work
Product scale up and manufacture to be conducted at Rochester, N.Y. facility
Genencor International, Inc. has secured a $2 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop an enzyme-based universal decontamination solution targeting chemical and biological warfare agents, including protein-based toxins such as ricin.
Through the initiation of this contract and a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center (ECBC), Genencor and ECBC will cooperate to discover and develop enzymes capable of decontaminating a broad array of chemical and biological weapons like mustard gas, anthrax and protein toxins like botulism and ricin. As part of the CRADA, scientists from Genencor and ECBC will scan existing enzyme strains, libraries and proprietary delivery systems to find and develop those able to decontaminate weapon agents. Products developed through the collaboration will be scaled up and manufactured at Genencor's Rochester, N.Y. facility.
Previous collaborative work between the two organizations led to the commercialization of Genencor's DEFENZ(TM) line of products - an enzyme-based decontaminate product capable of breaking down specific organophosphate type materials including G-type chemical warfare nerve agents like sarin.
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