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Synthetic Biology, Reimagined

Harnessing the potential of synthetic biology to transform key ingredient supply chains for the benefit of consumers, companies, and the environment.

Who We Are

Khona Scientific Inc. is a synthetic biology company specializing in the biosynthetic production of complex natural product compounds.

We provide low cost, high quality & bio-identical natural product compounds to formulators of both nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. Khona Scientific Inc. also provides process design services and production solutions to the synthetic biology industry at large.

What We Do

Khona Scientific Inc. (KSI) utilizes a patented synthetic biology platform technology (BiDS™) to optimize complex compound production via biosynthesis.

The BiDS™ platform transforms microbes into efficient producers of key ingredients.

Simple sugars + microbes + BiDS™ = inexpensive production of complex organic compounds.

These organic compounds are bio-identical to those obtained from natural sources.

How We Do It

Khona Scientific Inc.’s BiDS™ technology platform organizes multi-component biological pathways into microscopic “assembly lines”. This transforms microbial cells into highly efficient factories for the production of compounds from simple sugar feedstocks.

Conventional biosynthesis technologies must overcome multiple obstacles to become commercially viable. These include:

– Off-pathway production
– Diffusion limits
– Cell toxicity
– Expensive reagents

BiDS™ technology combines multi-step biological processes into a single integrated platform. This minimizes off-pathway production, reduces diffusion limits, mitigates cell toxicity and allows the use of inexpensive sugar feedstocks. Taken together, these factors decrease production costs, minimize R&D and accelerate commercialization timelines.

Biosynthesizing Cannabinoids

Cannabinoids are not easy to produce. Biosynthesis is a multi-step process wherein living organisms are engineered to convert low-cost feedstocks such as sugars into valuable complex compounds such as cannabinoids. Traditional (or legacy) biosynthesis methods work better for simple compounds that only involve a few biological steps (i.e. five or less). If the target compound is more complex, there are more biological steps necessary and thus more chances for the process to go wrong. With 20+ biological steps, cannabinoids are extremely complicated to make using biosynthesis.

The next-generation BiDS™ platform is a significant advancement over legacy biosynthesis methodologies currently in use. By organizing all biological production steps at the cellular level into their naturally-occurring biological pathways, BiDS™ allows yeast to efficiently convert simple sugars into cannabinoids. This pathway-oriented design turns the complex 20+ step biological process into an optimally organized and maximally efficient “assembly line” with minimal room for error or bottlenecks. Production output is flexible and can be dynamically shifted between 20 unique non-psychoactive cannabinoids. As biosynthesis pathways for lesser-known cannabinoids are characterized, Khona Scientific will adapt BiDS™ for production of these compounds expeditiously. THC and THCa could be produced, but will not be until/unless the regulatory landscape changes.

By the first half of 2024, Khona Scientific is projecting production of about 1,000kg of cannabinoids per month, initially targeting CBG, CBGa, CBC, CBCa, CBD, and CBDa. The modular aspects of the BiDS™ technology allow 14 additional cannabinoids to be added to production as consumer awareness and market demand develop (CBGV, CBGVa, CBCV, CBCVa, CBDV, CBDVa, THCV, THCVa, CBNa, CBV, CBT, CBTV, and CBLV).

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Novel Biosynthetic Production Method

BiDS™ biosynthesis technology overcomes problems common to cannabinoid biosynthesis, enabling cost-efficient high-yield production.

Pure & Consistent

Cannabinoids extracted from plants must undergo expensive remediation to ensure no mold, pesticides, heavy metals or other contaminants are present in the final product. Khona Scientific’s BiDS™ platform provides a reliable, consistent supply of bio-identical cannabinoid isolates devoid of impurities.

Regulatory Compliance

Khona Scientific’s cannabinoid biosynthesis process and products are 100% THC-free and adhere strictly to cGMP standards.

Scalable & Cost Effective

The design of the BiDS™ biosynthesis platform facilitates high yields with minimal inputs, enabling scalable and cost-effective cannabinoid production.

Specific Solutions for the Marketplace

Khona Scientific’s cannabinoid isolates are ready-for-use as ingredients in multiple verticals. Flexible production output ensures supply chain security for businesses using even the rarest cannabinoids within their formulations.

Pure & Consistent

Khona Scientific’s cannabinoids are made through a consistent, reproducible process that results in superior purity and consistency relative to extraction from plant material. The end product is 99%+ pure cannabinoid isolates bioidentical to those produced in the plant.

Regulatory Compliance

Khona Scientific’s process is environmentally sustainable, non-toxic and free of pesticides, fertilizers, mold and heavy metals. Our manufacturing process, protocols, and infrastructure adhere to cGMP standards.

Scalable & Cost Effective

Khona Scientific’s BiDS™ biosynthetic production technology facilitates high yields with minimal inputs, enabling scalable and cost-effective cannabinoid production.

Specific Solutions for the Marketplace

Khona Scientific’s cannabinoid isolates are ready-for-use as ingredients in multiple verticals. Flexible production output and high yields ensure supply chain security for businesses using even the rarest cannabinoids within their formulations.

The BiDS™ Method

Growth

Khona Scientific transforms common baker’s yeast into a microbial biological factory to produce pure natural product isolates from simple sugars. Over 24 hours, the yeast consumes the sugar and produces the target compound.

Separation

After fermentation, the yeast has turned the sugars into significant quantities of the target compound at 85-90% conversion efficiency. The yeast cells are then separated from the broth to prepare for purification of the compound.

Purification & Concentration

Next, chromatography is used to separate the compound from the yeast cell. Because the platform uses only simple sugars as inputs, there is no need for the remediation of impurities inherent to plant-based extraction.

Pure and Natural Products

The result of our process is pure natural product isolates that are bio-identical to those produced in native species/sources. Unlike traditional extraction methods, BiDS™ tech pairs industrial scalability with cost-effective production for many natural product compounds that are difficult to harvest, extract and refine from natural sources.

Why We Do It

Accessing Complex Compounds With Biosynthesis

Complex compounds are not easy to produce using biosynthesis. Traditional biosynthesis methods work best for simple conpounds that only involve a few biological steps (i.e. five or less). The BiDS™ technology platform is uniquely suited to the production of compounds with 6-20+ biological steps.

Supply Chain Integrity from Cell to Sale

Formulators, consumers, and researchers alike rely on globally-sourced ingredients. These elongated supply chains are vulnerable to interruption, delay and adulteration.

By consolidating key ingredient supply chains, Khona Scientific Inc. strengthens supply chain integrity and increases operational resilience for our customers and strategic partners in a shifting global economy.

Sustainable Production

The ideal target compounds produced with BiDS™ are resource intensive, rare, and/or destructive to harvest & refine from natural resources.

By creating efficient biosynthesis alternatives to legacy methods of extraction and refinement, Khona Scientific Inc. reduces the resources necessary for key ingredient procurement and minimizes carbon footprint. This allows sustainable and Earth-conscious production of the materials integral to our everyday lives.

Overhead Reduction

The advantages of the BiDS™ production technology include higher yields and a faster batch turnover, thereby decreasing key ingredient expenses and improving margins for our strategic partners.

Pure & Consistent Ingredients

Natural product compounds extracted from plants must undergo expensive remedation to ensure no mold, pesticides, heavy metals or other impurities are present in the final product. The BiDS™ platform provides a reliable, pure and consistent supply of bio-identical natural product compound isolates for our strategic partners.

Regulatory Compliance

The consistency and purity of the compounds derived via BiDS™ technology simplifies business concerns associated with regulatory requirements. Compounds can be produced to cGMP or Pharmaceutical-grade compliance standards.

Bespoke Solutions for Your Unique Ingredient Needs

The modular design of Khona Scientific Inc.’s platform technology enables rapid adaptation to new compounds. For our partners, this minimizes the time-to-market for implementing key ingredient production.

Applications/Capabilities

Khona Scientific Inc.’s platform technology is applicable to:

Biofuels (ex., Bio-Jet Fuel; Bio-Diesel)
Bio-Waxes (ex., Paraffins; Wax Esters)
Bio-Plastics (ex., Polyesters; Cellulose)
Terpenoids (ex., Paclitaxel; Artemisinin)
Isoprenes (ex., Rubber; Farnesene)
Phytochemicals (ex., Carotenoids; Cannabinoids)

Partnerships

Khona Scientific Inc. is actively seeking strategic partnership/collaborations with like-minded companies interested in reducing raw materials expenses for natural product compounds, as well as improving pre-existing biosynthesis platforms.

Development Pipeline for Partners

Phase 1: Proof of concept and IP creation
Phase 2: Scaling and optimization
Phase 3: Commercial production and/or IP licensing

Reach out to us today if you’d like more information about how we can expand cost-effective access to key ingredients and improve your company’s bottom line.

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