Pierre Monsan joins ZYMVOL as independent board member
COMPANY NEWS
Pierre Monsan joins ZYMVOL as independent board member

On Tuesday, May 9th, Pierre Monsan, CEO-CSO of Cell-Easy, officially joined ZYMVOL as an independent board member. With this new addition, our company adds one extra seat to its current board, which until now was composed by Maria Fátima Lucas (CEO), Edouard Rozan (CRO), and Sébastien Lefebvre (Elaia Partner).
Thanks to his extensive experience in biocatalysis, Monsan will help ZYMVOL in many fronts, from better defining the company’s strategy for the future, to also playing a key role in the development of our own enzyme products.
“We’re very happy to be able to count with such an experienced member on our team. Not only does he have an impeccable background, he has also demonstrated to be a true visionary of his time; betting on biotech when it was not a popular field as it is today”.
Maria Fátima Lucas, CEO at Zymvol
Indeed, Monsan started his professorship in the Department of Biochemical Engineering at the National Institute for Applied Sciences (INSA), University of Toulouse, more than 50 years ago, where he currently holds emeritus status.
But for many, he is better known as one of the founders of Toulouse White Biotech (TWB), a public-private consortium for R&D in the field of industrial biotechnology. For 7 years, he served as its director, where he led the development of over 180 R&D projects, signed industrial contracts worth almost €40m, and increased their consortium to 50 members.
Most recently, in 2019, he stepped down from his position at TWB to follow a new path: becoming CEO-CSO of Cell-Easy, a pioneering CDMO supporting ATMP developers bridging discovery to clinical study success.
However, this is just a quick snapshot of his entire professional journey.
Along the way, Monsan has authored more than 250 scientific publications, 3 books and 65 Patents; has been involved in the founding of several start-up companies; and has become a member of several scientific societies.
At ZYMVOL, we’re delighted to count from now on with Pierre Monsan’s support as an independent board member.
With his help, we’re one step closer to making better performing enzymes available to everyone.
Welcome to the team, Pierre!
ZYMVOL lands €1.3M in its first seed funding to catalyze the widespread use of industrial enzymes
COMPANY NEWS
ZYMVOL lands €1.3M in its first seed funding to catalyze the widespread use of industrial enzymes
With the support of leading tech and deep tech VC firm Elaia Partners, we now plan to scale our business and grow the team, while boosting our current enzyme portfolio.

Since 2017, ZYMVOL has grown into an established player in the computational enzyme discovery and design field.
We’ve participated in over 80 projects with global clients and engaged in active collaborations with key agents from the pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries, like multinational Archer Daniels Midland.
We’ve also built a team of +20 and have opened offices both in Barcelona and Boston.
But now, it’s time to reach further.
Led by VC firm Elaia Partners, we are glad to announce that we have raised our first Seed funding of €1.3M.
Elaia is a European top-tier VC firm with a strong tech DNA.
It has a track record of backing tech disruptors with global ambition from early stage to growth development and for the past 20 years, it’s committed to deliver high performance with values.
With their support, we are now ready to take the next steps: from scaling the business, increasing our workforce and inaugurating a new lab space at the Barcelona Science Park, to maximizing the potential of our own portfolio of enzymes, with applications in areas such as sustainable material production and degradation, as well as creating better ingredients for food and cosmetics.
“Computational enzyme design is an industry changer with a vast array of applications in sectors like pharmaceutical, chemical and other industries. With Zymvol, we are proud to back experts in enzyme engineering that can deliver across multiple sectors which face challenges such as: accelerating drug production, recycling polymers or need to consume drastically less water and energy”.
Sébastien Lefebvre, Partner at Elaia

In Silico Enzyme Engineering is here to stay
Compared with traditional, lab-only methods, we’re capable of producing better results in half the time – and at a fraction of the cost.
This is all thanks to our proprietary software, which uses computer simulations to mimic the conditions of the protein in nature, produce millions of in silico enzyme variants and test in the lab only what matters.
Furthermore, at ZYMVOL we are also able to discover enzymes for a target reaction without prior knowledge.
This means opening the door to potential projects that know which target chemical reaction they want to achieve, but don’t know there might be an enzyme for it.
The future is green (and made of enzymes!)
According to Grand View Research, the global enzyme market was worth $11.47 billion in 2021 and is estimated to grow at 6.5% (CAGR) from 2022 to 2030.
It’s no wonder that with the increasing need to maintain competitiveness and comply with sustainability standards, more companies are looking for the right enzyme to help them produce better products.
Applying a biocatalyst to an industrial process can eliminate -or decrease significantly- the need for toxic chemicals. And since it can operate at mild conditions, they can work at lower temperatures and pressure, which leads to energy savings.
“Biocatalysts have proven to be an effective solution in reducing emissions and harmful chemicals in industrial production, but it is still under-used due to the complexity of its implementation. With ZYMVOL, we strive to make enzymes accessible to everyone, so green chemistry becomes the new norm”.
Maria Fátima Lucas, CEO and co-founder at ZYMVOL
Beyond the Lab 2023
COURSE
Beyond the lab
Computing and business skills for science students

COURSE
Beyond the lab
Computing and business skills for science students

Stuck in a rut?
You may be studying science, but having second thoughts about spending your days in the laboratory, devoting yourself to research. The truth is, there’s life beyond the lab!
Re-write your future
Join us for a week of conferences specifically planned to upgrade your scientific profile. Learn the business and computing skills that the job market is looking for.

What will you gain from this course?

Computation tools applied to science

Business and marketing skills

Case-studies from experienced professionals

Networking sessions
Course Details
Start: 20 February, 2023
End: 24 February, 2023
Schedule: 9.30 – 18.00h
Modality: On-site
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Price: 1.500 €*
Places available: 25**
Organized by:
– Zymvol Biomodeling
– B-LigZymes
– BioInspireSensing
Deadline to apply: 31 January, 2023
(!) If you’re a BioInspireSensing student, please download this alternative programme:
*Includes hotel, meals and activities.
** Please note that places are limited and will be assigned in a first come, first served basis.
About Zymvol
ZYMVOL BIOMODELING is a privately funded company specialized in computational enzyme engineering. The company has customers in +10 countries and is actively engaged in highly innovative R&D projects.
About B-LigZymes
B-LigZymes is an international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral H2020 RISE project that directly addresses current limitations in lignin degradation.
About BioInspireSensing
BioInspireSensing is a trans-national training network inaugurated to train PhD students in investigating, building, and producing a new generation of bioinspired implantable sensors.
Meet the speakers

Dr. Gudrun Gygli
Life Science Consultant & Polyglot Communicator at Wega Informatics AG
About Gudrun
Gudrun builds the bridge between business and IT to ensure that scientists can do their best, state-of-the-art research with high-quality data. She has a background as an expert biochemist with 8+ years’ experience using state-of-the-art computational & experimental technologies. She is also a data enthusiast with 4+ years’ experience ensuring quality & reproducibility of data and experiments through data visualization & programming using Python.

Joan Cortés
Associate professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at IQS School of Engineering and Innovation Expert at Bee and Butterfly Consulting
About Joan
After starting his career in the world of education and in public administration, Joan went on to manage business development in an IT firm. Since 2007 he has helped established companies (Nestlè, Suez, Total, SEAT, Technip and more) define their innovation systems, develop their projects and make their Sci&Tech professionals become fluent in the language of business. He is also an investor in three medical devices companies and an advisor in multiple startups and corporate projects.

Dr. Ezequiel Juritz Davies
Chief technology officer (CTO) at Enantis
About Ezequiel
Ezequiel has a PhD in Biotechnology from National University of Quilmes and a vast expertise in protein design, drug discovery and innovation-driven business development. He is professor of Bioinformatics at the National Technological University of Buenos Aires. At Enantis he is in charge of protein engineering services, software licenses and identification of new targets for the internal product pipeline.

Dr. Oscar Ahumada
CEO of Mecwins
About Oscar
Oscar has successfully developed biomedical devices from proof of concept at low TRLs to commercial stage and has experience in starting up new technological companies. In the last years, he has executed growth strategies for Mecwins, focused on the commercialization of new licensed nanotechnologies for diverse industries (life sciences, instrumentation and medical diagnosis), mainly in the US, and opening new markets in Asia, Brazil and Europe.

Cyril Cerveau
CEO of 4DCELL
About Cyril
Cyril is CEO, in charge of Sales & Marketing, and HR. He has a Master's degree in cell and physiological biology and a Master's degree in innovation management. With 10 years of marketing and sales experience, he has managed the development of 2 companies as co-founder (4Dcell/cell biology and BforCure/Molecular biology), and conducted numerous marketing campaigns for pharmaceutical groups. He is also a trainer in people management.

Ouisseme Hsine
Life Science Consultant & Data Scientist at Wega Informatics AG
About Ouisseme
Ouisseme is Msc Graduate in 'In Silico Drug Design', interested in Chemoinformatics, Analysis of small molecules and biological interactions' systems, modelling, and drug design. Currently she is Life Science Consultant/Data Scientist at Wega Infomatics AG

Giuseppe Cavallo
Brand Strategist
About Giuseppe
Giuseppe is a brand strategist with +30 years of experience in management and strategic consulting. He has held positions at Colgate Palmolive and Nissan, where he led the European marketing team of a division and developed the top-selling Qashqai. With his consulting agency Voxpopuli, he has contributed to radical changes in brand communication and brand strategy in different market. He's the director of ESADE's brand strategy online program. In 2020 he published his second book "Speak with the heart: Storytelling for Leaders and Brands in times of change".

Cristina Ubach
Director at Ubach Munné
About Cristina
Cristina has a consolidated professional experience of more than 12 years accompanying companies at different stages of their development in two areas: search and management of public funding for business growth projects; management of R&D projects in consortium.

Rosa Abadie
Head of IP&IT at BELLAVISTA & Head of Legal at Zymvol Biomodeling SL.
About Rosa
Lawyer with a double specialty in Intellectual Property (IP) and Information Technology (IT).

Brian Jimenez
Senior Researcher at Zymvol Biomodeling SL.
About Brian
Brian is one of the expert developers working at Zymvol. He is currently leading researcher of the project iDEA-PS: Inhibition of Detergent Enzymes Advanced Prediction Software.

Lur Alonso
Senior Researcher at Zymvol Biomodeling SL.
About Lur
Lur is a scientist with broad experience in computational optimization of industrial enzymatic processes
Ready to Level Up?

Not sure if this course is right for you?
Feel free to contact us. We’ll be happy to solve your doubts!
Please, send your questions to beyondthelab2023 [at] zymvol.com, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Decided to attend?
Share your experience with the hashtag:
#BeyondTheLab23
Acknowledgements & Funding:
B-LigZymes
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No.824017
BioInspireSensing
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No.955643
Vegan melanin produced with enzymes? Meet the new joint venture between ZYMVOL and GECCO Biotech
COMPANY NEWS
Vegan melanin produced with enzymes? Meet the new joint venture between ZYMVOL and GECCO Biotech
From “more expensive than gold” to an affordable biomaterial:
OXYCO. The Enzyme Factory is opening the door to a sustainable method for melanin production. With this new technology, biomelanin could be used to create improved cosmetics, vegan food coloring and even solar panels.
We all know melanin as the pigment naturally found in our bodies that’s responsible for giving our skin, hair and eyes a darker shade. But over the years, scientists have pointed out that melanin can do so much more: from improving the efficiency of sunscreens thanks to its light-absorption capabilities, to taking full advantage of its color to use it as a natural dye.
The only downside? It’s not easy (nor cheap!) to produce: the most common way to obtain natural melanin is to extract it from sepia ink or bird feathers, which makes it hardly scalable and non-vegan. On the other hand, the cost of a vial of chemically synthesized melanin starts at 700 euro per gram; that’s 10x more expensive than the price of gold!

To put a solution to this problem, a new Barcelona-based company OXYCO has been created. OXYCO is able to produce melanin through biocatalysis -that is, by using enzymes, proteins found in Nature that have the ability to catalyze different chemical reactions.
Thanks to this biobased production style, OXYCO’s biomelanin is totally vegan, soluble and its properties can be adjusted to specific needs.
A chance discovery
Behind OXYCO stand two experts in the field of enzyme discovery and design: Maria Fátima Lucas, CEO of ZYMVOL BIOMODELING, and Nikola Lončar, CEO of GECCO BIOTECH. It was actually in GECCO’s lab where the biomelanin was first produced.
“It all started with a new set of enzymes we had just found: the first time we grew microbes to produce them, we were surprised with the resulting dark color of fermentation media. Once we were able to understand the reaction mechanism, it became clear that we had found a fermentative melanin production process”.
Nikola Lončar, CEO of GECCO Biotech
Since then, Nikola and his team have performed instrumental analysis of the produced biomelanin and confirmed it has identical structure to the natural melanin isolated from sepia. “It is a stable compound and mixes well in creams, which makes it a great ingredient for different products”, he adds.
Due to its novel nature and diversity of applications, the OXYCO team believes industries like Personal Care, Food & Beverages, and even Nanotechnology can be the most benefited by this new bio-pigment.
“Just imagine the possibilities: with biomelanin as an ingredient, we could have sunscreens that are high-protection & sea-friendly; or produce more sustainable semiconductors with natural materials. It’s a completely new market, and the potential is huge ”.
Maria Fátima Lucas, CEO and co-founder at ZYMVOL

The properties of melanin
LIGHT ABSORBENT
Melanin has the ability to absorb light, which makes it a smart choice for cosmetic and personal care brands that want to optimize the UV protection properties of their sunscreen and related products. But that’s not all, as even solar panels and photovoltaic systems can benefit from its broadband UV–Vis–NIR absorption.
COLORING
Thanks to its rich, dark color, melanin can be used as a natural dye for packaging, like the ones found in premium designs, and also as vegan food coloring for dishes like black rice or squid ink pasta. On the other hand, it finds applications in tanning, as well as products like natural hair boosters or treatments for dyed hair.
ANTIOXIDANT
As a potent antioxidant, melanin can be applied to anti-aging and cosmetic products, as well as add value to certain food products, like antioxidant juices and smoothies.
CONDUCTIVITY
Melanin can be manipulated to create uniform and adherent thin films, which is a prerequisite for applications in electronic devices like semiconductors. Melanin also shows mixed electronic-ionic conductivity and hydration state-dependent electrical conductivity, which can be applied to medical batteries.
ZYMVOL inaugurates new offices in Barcelona and Boston
COMPANY NEWS
ZYMVOL inaugurates new offices in Barcelona and Boston
We’re still not halfway through 2022, but at ZYMVOL we’ve already gone through many changes, worked on some new innovative projects and experienced lots and lots of growth.
This reality has become especially apparent regarding our physical workspace: with new additions to the team, student secondments and our eyes set on expanding through new markets, we needed to explore (and finally settle in) new locations.
From incubated startup to established deeptech company
After almost 3 years located in the MediaTic Building, at the heart of Barcelona’s 22@ district, our ZYMVOL headquarters have now moved to Pau Claris 94, right at the city center. The new offices are just 5 minutes away from the Passeig de Gracia metro station and from Plaça Catalunya.

“Despite having many of our team members working remote or hybrid, we still wanted to choose a space that we could feel comfortable in and would be of easy access to those who might not live nearby, with good connections by train”.
Ena Bhalla, Admin Manager at ZYMVOL
Most importantly, this change of offices marks a new chapter for our company. We’ve gone from being an incubated start-up at Barcelona Activa’s Incubator, in the MediaTic Building, to fully-fledged deeptech company of 5 years, able to stand on its own.
This wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Barcelona Activa, who kindly accommodated us in their incubator for high-impact tech startups, and who have played a key role in helping us grow into the company we now are.
Boston, a hub for R&D companies
For our second location, we travelled all the way across the Atlantic. After giving our first steps towards the North American market in early 2021, we can now say we’ve officially established ourselves in CIC-One Broadway, in Cambridge, MA, happy to continue bringing on enzyme innovation to the US market.
Dennis Hutchison, President of ZYMVOL Inc, will be the main responsible of the North American office. In March 2021, Dennis joined the team with the goal of helping ZYMVOL create and implement its strategy to enter the US market.
“In the last year, ZYMVOL has proven that it can undertake challenging projects, with successful results, while continually enhancing its technology to remain at the fore-front of innovation. I’m very excited to be part of this expansion, and eager to provide new solutions to our clients”.
Dennis Hutchison, President, Zymvol Inc.
ZYMVOL’s expansion through the US market comes as a natural response to its recent growth as a company. It has gone from being an only service-based company to also developing its own set of products (e.g. Alcohol dehydrogenases, Peroxygenases), as well as updating its ZYMEVOLVER technology to include new features and fine-tune its properties.
While the need for greener chemical processes keeps rising around the world, ZYMVOL’s computational enzyme discovery and engineering technology has proven to be a powerful ally in providing industrial biocatalysts that are both effective and sustainable.
“We believe the US market holds a lot of opportunities for new computational enzyme design & discovery campaigns, with its high number of life sciences, biotech, and overall research-focused companies. It’s an amazing opportunity and we’re looking forward to making the most of it”.
Maria Fátima Lucas, CEO and co-founder at ZYMVOL
Expanding our enzyme search platform

CASE STUDY
Expanding our enzyme search platform
BIOMATCHMAKER® (BMM), our proprietary enzyme search software, was first designed as a minimal viable product (MVP) to explore the enzymatic landscape of several alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH), with the aim to identify novel ADHs enzymes able to convert industrially relevant alcohol to corresponding ketones/aldehydes.
However, other relevant industrial processes requiring more complex and sophisticated enzymatic mechanisms remained elusive to our algorithm.
Would we be able to conduct an optimization of the BMM algorithm for it to work with any enzyme family, regardless of the complexity of their reaction? Moreover, would we be able to apply the BMM optimized version to discover new enzymes and expand the company’s pipeline?
To delimit the problem, we focused our efforts into…
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Press Release IDEA-PS project presentation
ZYMVOL and CYGYC BIOCON join forces to develop a new computational platform capable of identifying sustainable enzyme inhibitors for detergent formulations
CYGYC BIOCON and ZYMVOL start collaboration to improve sustainability of detergent formulation
COMPANY NEWS
CYGYC BIOCON and ZYMVOL start collaboration to improve sustainability of detergent formulation
At ZYMVOL we’ve joined forces with biochemical company CYGYC BIOCON, through its BIOKATAL brand, to develop a new generation of sustainable detergents. The project, which has received funding from ACCIÓ’s Tecniospring INDUSTRY programme, aims to improve the performance of enzymes in detergent formulations to facilitate a transition towards more eco-friendly household solutions.
Most detergent formulations contain enzymes, which are catalytic proteins used to eliminate different types of stains. For the formulation to work properly, enzymes must be deactivated or in a very low activity state, and only activated once they come into contact with water.
This is especially important when it comes to proteases, an enzyme type that tends to degrade all other enzymes in detergent formulas. To maintain them in the mentioned low activity state when the detergent is not being used or under storage conditions, they need to be deactivated with what are known as «inhibitors».
Currently, the majority of protease inhibitors used in detergents are compounds based in boron.
Despite these inhibitors complying with strict European laws, they can still have a negative impact on the environment due to its toxicity towards some types of plants and insects. That’s why CYGYC BIOCON is committed to further improving the sustainability of its product line by eliminating the need for boron-based inhibitors.
«With this project we continue working to offer ecological and sustainable washing solutions. This brings us a little closer to the milestone of obtaining environmentally neutral impact detergents»
Dr. Sergi Abad, Biotechnology Technical Manager at CYGYC BIOCON
By combining CYGYC BIOCON’s extensive experience in detergent formulations and ZYMVOL’s enzyme engineering know-how, both companies expect their innovation to lead to a much less contaminating solution that affects every household.

Sustainable Detergents powered by Technology
Under the name IDEA-PS: Inhibition of Detergent Enzymes Advanced Prediction Software, the project will consist in the development of a new computational platform – named ZYMEVOLVER-iDET – capable of identifying new, sustainable enzyme inhibitors for detergent formulations.
Dr. Brian Jimenez-Garcia, Senior Researcher at ZYMVOL, will be the primary investigator leading this project.
«By applying ZYMVOL’s technology, we expect to find inhibitors that can substitute the boron-based ones with greener alternatives. We hope that with this software, we will be able to help scientists make more effective formulations that will save resources, energy and water»
Dr. Brian Jimenez-Garcia, Senior Researcher at ZYMVOL
With the support of Tecniospring INDUSTRY, a programme powered by the Catalan Agency for Business Competitiveness (ACCIÓ), the IDEA-PS project has an established duration of 2 years and expects to achieve the first results by the end of 2022.
Thanks to this innovation, both CYGYC BIOCON and ZYMVOL calculate they can achieve a significant decrease in the environmental footprint of current detergents.

Obtaining Improved Enzyme Variants without Structural Data

CASE STUDY
How we obtained improved variants of an enzyme (through in silico modeling) without structural data
In August 2020 we started a collaboration with a customer from the Biotech sector who wanted to increase the activity and specificity of an enzyme for a target substrate.
However, we were facing an outstanding situation. Our customer’s project enzyme had:
- No known crystal structure
- Very few known sequences similar to the wild-type, hindering the use of sequence-based tools
- Unavailability of appropriate templates to build a good quality homology model
When we met with our customer, they had already performed…
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