Year: 2017-18

Company: Mykito Sciences

Liaison(s): Emily Shen, Brent Chamberlain

Mykito Sciences is a development-stage, biomaterials company aiming to leverage a novel and non-animal origin source of chitosan to supply the life sciences industry. Chitosan is a polysaccharide with applications across a variety of industries ranging from food supplements and cosmetics to industrial water treatment. Mykito Sciences is focusing on developing pharmaceutical grade chitosan for the application of chitosan within the biopharmaceutical industry, which requires specialized non-animal origin and high purity chitosan for use as a drug substance and in drug products. The goal of this project was to determine the feasibility of extracting chitosan from yeast. To accomplish this objective, the team initially performed successful proof-of-concept extraction studies at lab scale, and continued to optimize the production strain to develop a larger scale manufacturing process capable of producing high purity chitosan. By implementing microbial cell culture, process development, and analytical methods, the team developed a process for the initial extraction of chitosan from starting material.