A Korean SME is looking for global partners for its production technology of recombinant spider silk protein under research and development cooperation agreement.

Short summary The Korean company has developed producing technology of large-size recombinant spider silk protein. The Korean company has an innovative production technology which can produce three to six times larger (up to 300 kDa) spider silk protein than other competitors’ technologies. The company is looking for partners in the fields of medical, cosmetics, textile, and life science under research and development cooperation agreement.

Full description Spider web has drawn much attention as a material with various applications in the textile industry, life science, and even the medical industry. However, due to the spider’s territorial and cannibalistic characters, the mass production of natural spider silk is considered impossible. Existing technologies use varied platforms such as yeast, silkworm, and potato cells, yet the amount and molecular weight produced have been limited The Korean company has successfully developed and mass- produced the recombinant spider silk protein, similar in size and properties to the natural one. The material is combined with metabolically engineered Escherichia coli bacteria, using synthetic biology platform. The protein size of the material can be up to 300kDa(kilodalton). The spider silk protein, which the Korean company produces, is known as one of the most versatile materials on Earth. The strong characteristics of this material include, 1. Biocompatibility The cell of the spider silk protein has shown over 98% of its survival rate when added to Polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA), a biodegradable material. 2. Cell Viability Multiplying spider silk protein invigorates the faster cell proliferation 3. Improvement in wound healing The wound-healing assay project and non-clinical research have proved the faster cell recovery of the protein, thus effective in improving the healing of wounds in a shorter amount of time. 4. Safe material The spider silk protein has passed the ocular irritation testing in the non-clinical research, does not cause any harm to the human body. 5. Cosmetic-friendliness The glycine and amino acids in the material provide a moisturizing effect to the skin, and the material itself is already antibacterial. The material can be applied to different types of cosmetic formulas. The outstanding function of the recombinant spider silk protein has been applied in various products such as cosmetics, scaffolds for tissue engineering, medical coating materials, textiles, and bio-ink for 3D bio printers. Companies or research institutes in medical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and other relevant industries can be the potential partners under research and development cooperation agreement.

Advantages and innovations With patented technology, the Korean company can produce a large recombinant spider silk protein that has many advantages as follows; - Similar in size and physical properties of natural spider silk - Stronger and more durable than steel or other comparable products in the market - Biocompatible and biodegradable - Passed ocular irritation test - Rapid cell recovery and cell proliferation - Good moisturizing effect from a high amount of glycine and amino acids - Prevents antibacterial infection
Contact / source: NEXT EEN Widgets (europa.eu)