The Future of Biomanufacturing | Michael Heltzen, eXoZymes

April 13, 2026

32 min episode · 2 min read

Michael Heltzen

Episode

32 min

Read time

2 min

AI-Generated Summary

Published Apr 19, 2026

Key Takeaways

✓Cell-Free Manufacturing Advantage: Traditional synthetic biology fails at scale because living cells actively resist overproduction, become toxic when pushed, and trap end products inside cellular material — making isolation costs exceed product value. eXoZymes removes the cell entirely, running enzymatic pathways as controlled biochemical reactions that perform equally well or better at larger production volumes.
✓NCT Metabolic Compound: eXoZymes' flagship molecule NCT activates mitochondrial activity to convert fat into energy, targeting a different mechanism than GLP-1 drugs, which suppress hunger signals. NCT exists naturally in black pepper but only in trace amounts — requiring an impractical volume of raw material per dose — making cell-free biosynthesis the only viable production route.
✓Brute-Force Evolution via AI: eXoZymes uses protein folding models to predict roughly 1,000 enzyme mutations per cycle, then builds and performance-tests all variants simultaneously using cell-free protein synthesis — no cell culturing required. Results feed back into the algorithm as reinforcement training, compressing billions of years of natural evolutionary iteration into approximately one week of lab work.
✓Cross-Kingdom Enzyme Substitution: When optimizing a biosynthetic pathway, eXoZymes identifies the specific chemical reaction causing a bottleneck, then searches entirely different biological kingdoms for an enzyme performing that same reaction. That enzyme is extracted, optimized into an "exozyme," and plugged into the pathway — treating biochemistry as modular, interchangeable chemistry rather than organism-specific biology.
✓Dual-Track Commercialization Strategy: eXoZymes pursues NCT simultaneously as an over-the-counter nutraceutical supplement and as a pharmaceutical candidate via licensing or venture partnerships with biotech or pharma companies. Two additional products are already in development, with a structured screening process evaluating candidates on market size, competitive landscape, and platform fit before committing resources.

What It Covers

Michael Heltzen, CEO of eXoZymes (Nasdaq), explains how his company manufactures complex natural compounds using cell-free enzymatic pathways combined with AI-driven protein engineering, with a lead product targeting metabolic health as both a nutraceutical and pharmaceutical candidate.

Key Questions Answered

•Cell-Free Manufacturing Advantage: Traditional synthetic biology fails at scale because living cells actively resist overproduction, become toxic when pushed, and trap end products inside cellular material — making isolation costs exceed product value. eXoZymes removes the cell entirely, running enzymatic pathways as controlled biochemical reactions that perform equally well or better at larger production volumes.
•NCT Metabolic Compound: eXoZymes' flagship molecule NCT activates mitochondrial activity to convert fat into energy, targeting a different mechanism than GLP-1 drugs, which suppress hunger signals. NCT exists naturally in black pepper but only in trace amounts — requiring an impractical volume of raw material per dose — making cell-free biosynthesis the only viable production route.
•Brute-Force Evolution via AI: eXoZymes uses protein folding models to predict roughly 1,000 enzyme mutations per cycle, then builds and performance-tests all variants simultaneously using cell-free protein synthesis — no cell culturing required. Results feed back into the algorithm as reinforcement training, compressing billions of years of natural evolutionary iteration into approximately one week of lab work.
•Cross-Kingdom Enzyme Substitution: When optimizing a biosynthetic pathway, eXoZymes identifies the specific chemical reaction causing a bottleneck, then searches entirely different biological kingdoms for an enzyme performing that same reaction. That enzyme is extracted, optimized into an "exozyme," and plugged into the pathway — treating biochemistry as modular, interchangeable chemistry rather than organism-specific biology.
•Dual-Track Commercialization Strategy: eXoZymes pursues NCT simultaneously as an over-the-counter nutraceutical supplement and as a pharmaceutical candidate via licensing or venture partnerships with biotech or pharma companies. Two additional products are already in development, with a structured screening process evaluating candidates on market size, competitive landscape, and platform fit before committing resources.

Notable Moment

Heltzen recounts how eXoZymes' founding science originated from UCLA researchers who built a cell-based biofuels system, then privately acknowledged it would never scale — prompting their advisor to challenge them, half-jokingly, to simply remove the cell entirely. That offhand remark became a decade-long research program.

Know someone who'd find this useful?