Team:ITESM-Guadalajara/Product

OUR PRODUCT

Overview

Biophrame Technologies is committed to be one of the most innovative high biotech companies in Mexico, providing quality and affordable raw materials that can help the development of the health industry in Mexico.

Initially we are going to focus on producing Chitosan with pharmaceutical grade to be used as raw material in health industry; however, thanks to the enormous uses Chitosan has in many industries, our production process provides significant opportunities to expand our market beyond, through the development of new products where Chitosan provides added value.

Chitosan definition, applications and properties

Chitosan is a biopolymer derived from chitin (a naturally occurring polysaccharide widely distributed in nature, especially exoskeletons of some animals such as shrimps and insects) with a unique chemical structure as a linear polycation with a high charge density, hydrogen bonding, reactive hydroxyl and amino groups that help Chitosan display excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-toxicity, physical stability, hemostatic activity and processability properties, which has attracted the attention of scientists and industries for its utilization in many applications of technical interest (Raafat & Sahl, 2009).

Chemically, Chitosan is a copolymer composed by β-(1→4)-2-acetamido-D-glucose and β-(1→4)-2-amino-D-glucose units (see figure below), where the relative amount of GlcNAc and D‐glucosamine (GlcN) monosacharides may vary giving different degrees of deacetylation (75–95%), molecular weights (MWs) (50–2000 kDa), viscosities, pKa values, etc (Raafat & Sahl, 2009).

Our main product is Chitosan, a natural fiber product with multiple applications in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, water treatment, textile finishing, food, cosmetics, pulp and paper, photography and tissue engineering. The product we market is the result of a biological production process based on genetically modified organisms, which is productive, cost effective and waste reductive. In our process, chitin extracted from shrimp shell waste undergoes a process of demineralization, deproteinization and deacetylation by the action of two bacteria. The behavior of these bacteria is controlled by induced temperature changes, guaranteeing no chemical use in the process.

We are strategically located in Guadalajara, the second most populated city in Mexico and responsible for 7% of national gross domestic product. Our goal in the long term is to fulfill the Mexican demand of medium and high purity Chitosan and to become the first Mexican exporter of high purity Chitosan. We want to create dream jobs for young Mexican engineers and export our biotechnology worldwide.