The Technology
This innovation leverages recombinant beta-casein (bCN), a naturally amphiphilic protein, to create versatile encapsulation systems. Beta-casein, sourced from cow milk, naturally forms core-shell micelles that efficiently encapsulate hydrophobic bioactive compounds, drugs, and nutraceuticals. This novel approach utilizes recombinant techniques to address the limitations of natural beta-casein, such as immunogenicity, and inconsistent quality across batches.
Recombinant bCN is expressed in bacterial systems, purified, and utilized to form functional core-shell micelles capable of encapsulating diverse compounds, including cannabinoids. This system supports the encapsulation of single or multiple components at tailored compositions. The encapsulating micelles maintain high stability, even in powdered form, with the ability to reconstitute while preserving nearly 100% of their contents.
Additionally, this technology introduces a groundbreaking ability to manipulate drug forms into spherulites via heat treatments, a behavior unique to bCN. This advancement offers promising applications in food, beverage, and medical industries, alongside the potential to be used for synthetic milk micelle reconstruction for food enrichment and cheese production.
Advantages
- High Efficiency: Enhanced encapsulation and delivery capabilities for hydrophobic bioactive compounds.
- Versatility: Supports single and multiple compound encapsulation with tunable compositions.
- Stability: Preserves encapsulated compounds even after drying, with long-term stability in powdered form.
- Cost-Effective and Scalable: Recombinant production ensures uniformity, reduces costs, and facilitates scalability.
- Innovative Drug Forms: Enables the creation of spherulites, expanding pharmaceutical applications.
Applications
- Medical: Oral delivery systems for hydrophobic drugs.
- Food and Beverages: Incorporation of nutraceuticals and other bioactives including cannabinoids in functional foods and drinks.
- Pharmaceutical Development: Advanced drug formulations, including spherulite-based delivery.
- Biotechnology: A required component for synthetic milk micelle construction for food enrichment and dairy product innovation.
- This recombinant beta-casein technology stands poised to revolutionize encapsulation systems across multiple industries, delivering unprecedented functionality and adaptability.
Business Development Contacts