The Leipzig biotech company C-Lecta continues to grow. As the company announced, it hired its 100th employee in February. In the past year alone, 20 employees were added. The team now includes people from eleven nations who are on average 38 years old. With a ratio of 58 to 42, women make up the majority at C-Lecta.
Company helps in the fight against Corona
The biotech company, founded in 2004, deals with what is known as “enzyme engineering”. The aim is to change enzymes in such a way that they have the desired properties. Among other things, the company says it has developed a natural-based sweetener that tastes like sugar but has no calories.
The Leipzig company also played an important role in the development of a vaccine against Corona. As reported by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, the biochemists are producing an artificial enzyme called “denarase” that is used in the production of vaccines.
25 milliliters cost 5.000 euros
They produce the required enzyme in bioreactors. For this purpose, corresponding microorganisms are cultivated, which later release the substance. 20 to 25 milliliters cost a good 5.000 euros. Nevertheless, demand has risen sharply since the beginning of the Corona crisis. As C-Lecta informed MDR, demand has doubled. "In the last few weeks and months, we have achieved seven-digit sales with the enzyme," said founder and managing director Marc Struhalla.
In order to curb the spread of Sars-CoV-2, it is necessary to test many people regularly and on site for the virus. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the St. Georg Hospital in Leipzig have developed an improved protocol for detecting Sars-CoV-2.
In cooperation with TK-Techniker Krankenkasse and its partner, GiB-Gesundheit in Bewegungs GmbH, we have put together the first online offers as part of company health management.