Xinteza Discovers Novel Key Enzyme For Cannabinoid Biosynthesis

Xinteza API Ltd., a biosynthesis technology company, revealed the discovery of a new catalytic enzyme, capable of solving one of the major bottlenecks that has so far limited the design of sustainable and cost-efficient cannabinoid biosynthesis production systems, in research led by professor Asaph Aharoni at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Xinteza has recently unveiled discoveries for a patent-pending whole new non-cannabis source of cannabinoid biosynthesis related genes and enzymes. This newly discovered gene pool includes a novel prenyl-transferase enzyme.

The prenylation stage in cannabinoid biosynthesis is the last and major step in the formation of CBGA, the "mother" molecule of most other known cannabinoids such as THCA, CBDA and CBCA, however the original enzyme used by the cannabis sativa plant loses a substantial amount of its activity when introduced into yeast and bacteria expression systems. Several alternative genes have been suggested over the years by various research groups to bypass this prenylation roadblock, but mostly suffered from severe usability deficiencies, such as impaired chemical kinetics or freedom-to-operate issues.

According to the company, the new prenyl-transferase enzyme PT-X solves this bottleneck by offering improved catalytic activity, in the range of 5-fold better than the original cannabis sativa enzyme, as well as high compatibility for introduction into micro-organism-based cannabinoid biosynthesis industrial production systems.

"As we expand our IP's commercialization and collaboration activity, we are highly motivated by this pivotal discovery of such a key novel enzyme. The flexibility and efficiency of PT-X have the potential to dramatically improve the cost to efficacy ratio of current cannabinoid biosynthesis production, due to its significant advantages over existing prenyl- transferase solutions" stated Alon Gal, Xinteza's CEO. "We continue to optimize commercial-scale processes of cannabinoid biosynthesis with the most sophisticated proprietary cannabinoid producing genes and enzymes from our growing portfolio", Gal continued.

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