Company History
Incorporated in 2006, Hong Kong-based Bio-Works Company Limited is engaged in the R&D, manufacture, commercialization, marketing and sales of innovative, leading edge products used by scientists or food & beverage producers to separate proteins or other molecules of interest from complex solutions.
Bio-Works has existing R&D and production facilities in Bromma, Sweden, just outside Stockholm. It is staffed by people rich in experience in the Swedish biotech industry and particularly with separation media.
The Company was established by four founders with extensive experience gained within the protein separations market, and long experience of living and working in Asia. Three of the founders have worked for many years in leading roles in R&D, sales and marketing for the market leader in this area, GE Healthcare (formerly Amersham Biosciences, Pharmacia Biotech and LKB). The fourth founder has extensive experience of the food and beverage market, as well as doing business in Asia.
Nature of the Business
Proteins and other molecules can be isolated from complex mixtures by a process known as liquid chromatography. In this process, small beads of a highly specialized rigid adsorber are packed into a column. The rigid adsorber is designed to specifically bind the molecule of interest in the sample solution under known conditions of pH or ionic strength. The sample solution is pumped through the column, and the molecule of interest binds to the adsorber beads. Everything else washes through the column and is either collected or disposed of as required. In order to recover the molecule of interest from the adsorber, a solution of differing pH or ionic strength is passed through the column. Under these conditions, the molecule releases from the adsorber, and is washed from the column and collected.
Bio-Works business is focused on highly specialized adsorber beads (often called "media"), where the Company has extensive knowledge, ability and IP to produce products of exceptional performance. The beads range in size from 15 to 300 microns in diameter. Specialist knowledge is required to produce a bead of suitable rigidity and porosity, and which does not affect the sample of interest. Once the basic bead is produced, it's ability to specifically bind a molecule of interest can be achieved by chemically attaching to the bead a "capture" molecule, called a ligand. It is chosen for its specific affinity to the target molecule, or its ability to bind certain types of molecule (such as those with a positive charge, for example). Bio-Works skills lie in both the production of the bead and attachment of ligands.
In the rapidly growing market for biotherapeutic drugs, the Company's products are a vital requirement at both R&D and production scale. Within the newer food and beverage markets, such as isolation of proteins from milk or stabilization of beer, Bio-Works products are positioned to take a significant share as the Company aggressively moves to patent new IP in these areas.
Leading Products
Using both licensed and proprietary IP, the Company produces agarose-based products with exceptional performance for life science research and production, and food & beverage production. Agarose is an inert, versatile, low cost and readily available material isolated from seaweed. It will not denature or in any other way harm the delicate biotechnology products that are purified on the material. Many organic based resins have a negative effect on the product. Indeed, agarose media is fundamental to bio-separations, accounting for 60-70% of the bio-separations market.
Beads of 17 micron diameter are ready-packed for convenience into a column of 2.5ml or 4.3ml volume.
Both 40 and 200 micron beads are also available for larger scale applications. Both are offered either pre-packed into columns of various sizes, or as loose material for customers with larger scale applications to pack themselves. At production scale, columns can have a volume of as much as 200 litres or more and be made of stainless steel. The media can be cleaned easily after each use, but eventually needs to be replaced after a certain number of batches.