Improvement opportunities for P450 biocatalytic applications in the pharmaceutical industry.

Enhancing P450 enzyme components with greater degrees of freedom can significantly expand biocatalytic applications in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

• Why it matters: Current limitations in stability, activity, and scalability hinder the industrial adoption of P450 enzymes for selective oxygenation, which are crucial for improving drug properties.
• What they did: The review dissects P450 biocatalysts into seven components and examines recent advances in enzyme, cell, and process engineering to address key industrial needs.
• The result: Focusing on flexible components and multidisciplinary strategies can overcome existing challenges, enabling more efficient and scalable P450-based biocatalytic processes for pharmaceuticals.