Objective
The global amino acids market is growing rapidly, with applications in a wide range of areas, including: active pharmaceutical ingredients, peptide drug manufacture, higher performance catalysts and specialty chemicals, speciality and medical nutrition, and cosmetics/personal care. The global therapeutics peptide market alone was estimated to be worth USD 40 billion in 2024 and is anticipated to grow consistently at 10% per annum from 2025-2030. Current synthetic production methods are suited to the preparation of relatively simple natural and unnatural amino acids. We have developed chemistry that allows the rapid and efficient production of complex amino acids that cannot be prepared easily or at all by other methods. Our synthetic technology potentially addresses two key market challenges: availability and cost.
In the PoC funding period, we will:
i) Build on the synthetic methodology by demonstrating production on commercially relevant scale to derisk any scale-up challenges (e.g. purification, yield)
ii) Transfer the chemistry to semi-autonomous synthesis platforms to move towards our long term vision of the autonomous and on-demand synthesis of complex amino acids.
The combination of production technology and our synthesis IP will allow the low cost production of complex amino acids. Potential user benefits include: (a) access to new markets previously inaccessible due to cost, (b) access to new unnatural amino acids, enabling enhanced catalytic performance and selectivity, (c) decentralised automated production, (d) access to new active pharmaceutical ingredients, nutraceuticals and peptides.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-POC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
L69 7ZX LIVERPOOL
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.