Mk2 Biotechnologies, Wacker and TUM cooperate

In a joint project, the consortium of the three companies wants to find ways of producing antimicrobial peptides cost-effectively. They are suitable, for example, as a natural preservative.

The start-up Mk2 Biotechnologies, the chemical industry company Wacker and the Technical University of Munich have announced a partnership. For two years, the companies will jointly develop, cost-effectively produce in large quantities and refine antimicrobial peptides for various applications.

Antimicrobial peptides are bioactive compounds made from amino acid chains that also occur in the human body. There, for example, they ward off infections caused by bacteria and fungi and kill tumor cells. They are also suitable as a natural alternative for artificial preservatives in food production and for use in plant protection and animal breeding.

"Antimicrobial peptides are a highly interesting class of products that we can produce using our innovative peptide synthesis platform," says Mk2 Biotechnologies director and project coordinator Konstantinos Antonopoulos. "Conventional technologies offer high activities but have difficulty producing antimicrobial peptides on a large scale at low cost - a problem we aim to solve in the joint project." In their project, Mk2 Biotechnologies, Wacker and the Technical University of Munich are supported by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy. The consortium will receive funding of up to 980,000 euros for the project.