Articles

Many modern pharmaceuticals rely on non-natural amino acids bearing two stereocenters – a particular type of “building block” which is complex, laborious and often wasteful to produce.

The cassaFLOW project, led by researchers at TU Delft and backed by the European Innovation Council, is working on a cleaner, faster alternative. Their idea is to use enzymes—nature’s own catalysts—inside continuous flow reactors. Instead of laborious eight step processes, the team aims to produce these building blocks in just three steps.

Why does it matter?

This streamlined approach will:

• Boost EU pharmaceutical autonomy by enabling production within Europe, reducing dependency on global supply chains.
• Lower environmental impact with fewer steps and use of renewable, biodegradable materials.
• Create a flexible platform to make other complex amino acids.

What have we achieved so far?              

• Over 30 enzymes have been expressed and evaluated for the process.
• Renewable carriers have been developed to keep enzymes stable and allow for reuse.

By 2026, the project aims to deliver a working prototype process that could transform how we build pharmaceuticals: faster, cleaner and more reliably.