FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to questions about the company, our services & offers, our expertise and ways to work with us.

Offers & Services
What types of services do you provide?

BRAIN Biotech Zwingenberg acts as a contract research organization (CRO) in the fields of enzyme technology, microbial strain development and bioprocess development.

Customers can choose from these technology modules and combine them as desired:

  • Enzyme discovery
  • Enzyme engineering
  • Bioprospecting
  • Strain engineering
  • Production strain development
  • Fermentation development
  • Scale-up to industrial production
  • DSP development
Do you offer proprietary technology solutions?

Yes, we do. Have a look at our USPs and why you should work with us. Customers can get access to these technologies in customized research programs or through licensing technologies for the use in certain fields.

How customizable are your services?

Services are highly customizable and designed to meet customers' complex process and application requirements.  

Find more deatails at: Working with the BRAIN Biotech R&D site in Zwingenberg, Germany

Can you handle both the R&D as well as the manufacturing?

Yes, we can do both. BRAIN Biotech Zwingenberg is the research center (CRO). The BRAIN Biotech Group company Biocatalysts Ltd. offers application-oriented enzyme product business and contract manufacturing (CMO). 

Which microorganisms do you use?

Our industrial production strains for enzyme and protein production are Escherichia coli, Bacillus species, Kluyveromyces lactis, Komagataella phaffii (Pichia pastoris ), Yarrowia lipolytica and Aspergillus niger

We have additional microorganisms that we use for screening campaigns and for the production of biomolecules. These include S. albus, S. lividans, C. glutamicum, P. stutzeri, P. putida, K. lactis, S. cerevisiae, B. licheniformis.

Can you scale processes for commercial production?

Yes, we can scale processes for commercial production. We are a partner along the entire value chain, from research to manufacturing. 

When our work at the Zwingenberg, Germany, site is done, we transfer the project and the associated technologies and methods to the BRAIN Biotech Group company Biocatalysts Ltd in Cardiff, Wales, UK. 

 

What is unique about your collection of microbial strains?

Our collection of more than 50,000 microorganisms, the BRAIN Bioarchive, and our MetXtraTM technology platform, including a large digital metagenomic database, are the basis for exclusive, customized contract research, allowing our business partners exclusivity for strains and genes in a specific field of application.

Subcollections of bacterial and fungal strains for food fermentation (QPS collection) and clean tech approaches (biological recycling) are available to help customers select the most appropriate strain(s) for their purposes.

Learn more about our offerings for microorganisms and production strains

Expertise
What is your expertise in synthetic biology?

The creation of recombinant production strains for proteins and enzymes is our core technology. We also design sophisticated microbial cell factories and rewire metabolic pathways to obtain platforms that produce fine chemicals. This is greatly facilitated by the use of our proprietary CRISPR-Cas like genome editing tools. 

What is your expertise in non-GMO technologies?

To improve strains without creating GMOs we can apply chemical mutagens or UV light. Spontaneous mutations can be selected for using Adopted Laboratory Evolution (ALE).

What is your expertise in precision fermentation?

The recombinant production of selected proteins, peptides, enzymes and small molecules using a variety of microbial platforms is our daily business.

What is your expertise in manufacturing?

The controlled large-scale production of valuable functional molecules and biocatalysts as part of microbial fermentation is routinely carried out at the Biocatalysts Ltd. production sites for a variety of industries.

Over the last 30 years, we at BRAIN Biotech have gained a lot of experience in scaling up processes from lab scale (20 L) to 50 m³ and 100 m³ scale with various CMOs or directly with customers. Our bioprocess team has accumulated experience in protein, enzyme and small molecule production as well as in simple biomass production for the use of microorganisms.

What kind of expertise do you have in regulatory affairs?

We support EFSA and FDA dossiers with technical data and are familiar with the approval requirements and processes, with a dedicated staff member coordinating regulatory requirements. 

What is your expertise in genome editing with CRISPR?

BRAIN Biotech has developed its own proprietary CRISPR-Cas like genome editing tools. These nucleases are used for internal and customer initiated strain development projects, saving costs and time. 

Working with BRAIN Biotech
What market advantages can be achieved for customers through R&D?

Benefit from our advanced technology package with outstanding opportunities. Our R&D drives innovation to create intellectual property (IP), freedom to operate (FTO), know-how, optimized products, and faster time to market.

Who has control of the project?

As our partner, you are in the driver's seat. We allow you full control for the client, but give you the advice you need throughout the project, which is typically a milestone and decision point gated project.

Learn more about these and other topics in How to collaborate with us

What does a typical project initiation look like?

The project initiation begins with a free consultation from our technical Busniness Development team. Technical support from scientific experts underpins the advice. This is followed by a presentation and discussion of a proposal, including a scientific project plan, commercial terms and cost overview. 

 Working with BRAIN Biotech

Why are you faster than the others?

Your challenge is our challenge. With this mission in mind, our teams work with great dedication and an agile, interdisciplinary approach, ensuring that projects are completed quickly and cost-effectively.

  • We build on experienced teams
  • We work closely with our clients
  • We have 30 years of experience in biotechnology and R&D
  • We use the best technologies to solve your problem

Learn more about how we are working and how we do keep innovating to meet our clients´ needs. 

What drives your innovative biosolutions?

Our expert scientists work in multidisciplinary teams to overcome the challenges of our customers. We promote a culture of open discussion and leave room for unusual ideas and approaches in the project teams.
It is these daily challenges and a network of academic contacts that keep us agile, solution-oriented and in business.

Learn more about how we are working and how we do keep innovating to meet our clients´ needs.

How is intellectual property (IP) handled in collaborations?

Background IP remains with the IP owner. Foreground IP on e.g. customer strains belongs to the customer. Further foreground IP will be agreed in a tailored R&D contract. Rights on proprietary BRAIN Biotech resource libraries, strains, genes, enzymes, expression systems etc. can be gained by exclusive or non-exclusive licensing.

Do you have contracts with standard terms and conditions?

We have standard terms and conditions for short-term projects that allow for a quick start of the R&D program appropriate for that type of contract.

For long-term collaborations, customized R&D contracts are negotiated to cover and satisfy the interests of all parties.

What is the pricing model for your services?

The remuneration for a cooperation project is agreed jointly in customized R&D contracts and usually consists of three elements:  

  1. Tech access fee, depending on the project (access to technology platforms, know-how, expertise and workflows); and
  2. FTE-based R&D payments, which cover the R&D personnel costs, materials and consumables; and   
  3. Success-based payments (such as royalties, license fees or one-time payments), which depend on mutually agreed milestones and customer requirements.  
How can a company initiate a collaboration with BRAIN Biotech?

Please, contact us via our contact form

These sections on our website may also be interesting for you: 

 How to collaborate with BRAIN Biotech

Why choose BRAIN Biotech as your contract research organization

 

What is your experience with publicly funded projects?

BRAIN Biotech AG has a long track record of successful participation in publicly funded projects at national and European level. These include funding agencies of the European Union (EU), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWK) and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). In addition, we are certified in France as an eligible R&D service provider under the CIR scheme and have received research tax credits from the German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) for several projects.

We are open to participating in new funding programs and are available for discussions with potential partners.

Company
What does "BRAIN" stand for?

"BRAIN" is an acronym and stands for “Biotechnology Research and Information Network”. A few years ago, the original name “B.R.A.I.N. Biotechnology Research and Information Network” became “BRAIN Biotech”.

How long has your company been in business?

More than 30 years ago, graduates of the Technical University of Darmstadt founded the company "B.R.A.I.N.". Over the years, the biotech start-up has developed into the internationally active BRAIN Biotech Group with BRAIN Biotech AG as the parent company and BRAIN Biotech Zwingenberg as one of the R&D sites.

Who are some of your trusted partners?

Due to confidentiality, we are allowed to mention just a few of our trusted partners. Publicly known through press releases are for example AMSilk, BASF, Bayer, Bonumose, CyPlus, DSM Evonik, Formo, Henkel, Heraeus, Roquette, Südzucker, Suntory, Symrise and many others. 

Who is part of BRAIN Biotech Group?

BRAIN Biotech AG is the parent company of the BRAIN Biotech Group. The group´s headquarter is in Zwingenberg, South Hesse, Germany.

Subsidiaries or operating facilities are located in Zwingenberg, Germany (BRAIN Biotech Zwingenberg), Potsdam, Germany (AnalytiCon Discovery), Cardiff, UK (Biocatalysts Food specialities & Fermentation), Nieuwkuijk, Netherlands (Biocatalysts Baking), Büttelborn, Germany (Biocatalysts Beverage and Starch) and Tampa, Florida, USA (Biocatalysts US).

Website BRAIN Biotech Group

How do you engage with networks and associations?

BRAIN Biotech is involved in various national and international networks and associations with the aim of developing and optimizing biotechnological solutions for industry. We attend scientific conferences and keep in touch with the scientific community to stay up-to-date.

Currently, we are member of IWBio, VCI, DechemaCLIB, and of BIO Deutschland 

What regulatory standards do you comply with?

BRAIN Biotech AG is committed to various corporate responsibility standards under the UN Global Compact, covering human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption.

You can find information about the BRAIN Biotech AG´s corporate responsibility and sustainability goals on the BRAIN Biotech Group website.