AGAVE BIOSYSTEMS INC. — Department of Defense STTR Phase II: The chloroperoxidase enzyme from the filamentous fungus Caldariomyces fumago has applicati
AGAVE BIOSYSTEMS INC. — STTR Phase II award from Department of Defense.
Phase II STTR prototype / development signal
- Phase II is where Department of Defense funds deeper R&D after feasibility. Incumbents with Phase II history are serious competitors on adjacent topics.
- Use this award as past-performance context and to map customer organizations for STRATFI/TACFI-style transition planning.
- Obligated amount $374,999. Cross-check similar awards in the same agency and technology tags for going-rate context.
- Amount
- $374,999
- Agency
- Department of Defense · Army
- Program / Phase
- STTR · Phase II
- Solicitation
- 2011.A
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- NY
- Period
- 2012-12-21 → 2013-12-17
Description
The chloroperoxidase enzyme from the filamentous fungus Caldariomyces fumago has applications in industrial chemical synthesis and the detection and inactivation of chemical warfare agents. Chloroperoxidase is capable of regio- and enantioselective oxygenations and halogenations of organic substrates. When performed chemically, these reactions typically require aggressive reagents and reaction conditions, and lead to the formation of undesired by-products. Widespread adoption of enzyme-catalyzed synthetic strategies is hindered by the high cost of purified proteins, and by the challenges of retaining the native activity of proteins expressed using heterologous host systems. In the Phase I, Agave BioSystems and collaborators from Cornell University achieved high level production of highly active recombinant Caldariomyces fumago chloroperoxidase (rCPO) in Aspergillus. The current not fully optimized levels of expression are five-fold higher than previously reported. They are also 100 fold lower than potential levels which have been achieved with other Aspergillus systems providing enormous upside potential that will be realized upon completion of the Phase II tasks. The result will be an expression system that meets or exceeds the sponsor"s specifications.