Enzymit Achieves World's First Scaled Cell-Free Production of Hyaluronic Acid

Enzymit, a synthetic biology company at the forefront of cell-free biomanufacturing, has reached a significant milestone in collaboration with Cosun, an agricultural cooperative known for its sustainable production of plant-based ingredients. Together, they have achieved pilot-scale manufacturing at 200 liters of hyaluronic acid (HA) using an enzyme-only, cell-free method. This production campaign resulted in multi-kilogram quantities of high-purity HA, showcasing enhanced process efficiency and product consistency when compared to traditional fermentation methods.

Hyaluronic acid is a highly valuable biopolymer, utilized in various applications such as dermal fillers, wound healing, drug delivery, and tissue engineering. The global market for hyaluronic acid products, valued at $9.43 billion in 2025, is anticipated to expand to $15.94 billion by 2035, highlighting the growing demand for high-purity, high-performance biomaterials.

Enzymit's innovative cell-free process is groundbreaking as it allows manufacturers to dictate the size of hyaluronic acid during production. This method enables the creation of HA in specified sizes ranging from approximately 10 kDa to 4 MDa with a narrow size distribution, all achieved through standard production settings without the need to alter enzymes or organisms.

Marie Dobenesque, Chief Technology Officer of Cosun RD&I, remarked, "We are honored to have been a part of Enzymit's journey in scaling their lab protocol to pilot scale, and very proud that process development and first-ever factory operation were successful based on our existing manufacturing assets. It's exciting to see this cell-free technology become an industrial reality within such a short amount of time."

This achievement exemplifies Enzymit's cell-free biomanufacturing platform, which employs AI-designed enzymes capable of synthesizing complex bioproducts without relying on living cells, resulting in faster, cleaner, and more efficient production processes.

Gideon Lapidoth, CEO of Enzymit, stated, "This isn't just a breakthrough in hyaluronic acid production - it's a glimpse into the future of how we make molecules. By combining AI-designed enzymes with a robust cell-free system, we've removed biological bottlenecks and proven that precision manufacturing of biomolecules is no longer limited by what cells can or can't do."