HydRegen

HydRegen is an Oxford, UK-based biotechnology company developing bio-based catalysts intended to replace toxic and expensive metal catalysts used in hydrogenation reactions in chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Its system combines multiple enzymes immobilised on a conductive carbon bead: an NADH-dependent enzyme performs the target reduction, a hydrogenase splits hydrogen gas into protons and electrons, and an NAD+ reductase uses those electrons to regenerate NADH. Because hydrogen gas rather than glucose powers cofactor regeneration, the process is described as generating essentially no carbon-based waste, achieving high atom economy and simplifying product isolation; the enzyme-loaded beads can be recovered and reused.

The technology has been translated into flow chemistry, in which reactants pass over a packed bed of the heterogeneous biocatalyst, offering efficient mixing, safer handling of small volumes of pressurised hydrogen, automation and process control, and high productivity in small reactor footprints. Another application area is selective deuteration: [4-2H]-NADH can be recycled by the HydRegen system using standard hydrogen gas with D2O as solvent, enabling production of α-deuterium-labelled chiral molecules relevant to deuterated pharmaceuticals.

The company positions its approach as reducing both the carbon footprint and operating costs of chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing by lowering the temperatures and pressures required in syntheses. Analysis by investor Clean Growth Fund suggested that applying HydRegen's approach to a first target process, paracetamol production, would save hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2e per annum, with millions of tonnes annually if broadly adopted across the sectors.

Founding story

The HydRegen system — a portmanteau of hydrogen and regeneration — was developed at the University of Oxford by Professor Kylie Vincent and Dr Holly Reeve, with the biotechnologies first demonstrated during Reeve's undergraduate and doctoral research in the Vincent Group. Reeve became project manager for a 2016 IB Catalyst grant and then CEO of the incorporated company, and is listed as a co-founder alongside Vincent.

Business model

HydRegen develops patent-protected, enzyme-based catalyst technology and plans to license it to companies manufacturing pharmaceutical and chemical products worldwide, positioning its biotechnology as part of the 'advanced manufacturing tool-box' for the chemical manufacturing industry.

Licensing of its biocatalyst technology to pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers.

Traction

The project builds on more than ten years of fundamental and applied research and has attracted grant and venture funding, including a £2.9 million IB Catalyst grant in 2016, £385,000 from UKI2S with private investors in March 2022, and a £2.6 million round led by Clean Growth Fund announced in April 2023. Paracetamol production is cited as a first target process.

Latest developments

In April 2023 HydRegen announced a £2.6 million investment led by Clean Growth Fund alongside existing investors, to fund commercial development and deployment of its technologies over the following 18 months and to expand the team. The company also announced the appointment of Dr Willem Breukelaar as a scientist specialising in biocatalysis.