SBIR Phase II: Scalable Synthetic Mucin Biomaterials

The broader/ commercial impacts of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project lie in improving public health through novel solutions in skincare, wound healing, eye lubrication, and drug delivery; strengthening U.S. national defense with materials for aerospace and extreme environments; and fostering academic–industry partnerships. The core innovation is a synthetic mucin that mimics structures and functions of their animal-derived counterparts, but that is also significantly lower cost, purer, more stable, and customizable to meet the specific needs of the customer. The application areas mentioned earlier represent multi-million-dollar markets and this project can be first-to-market to address the growing need for biocompatible analogs of ubiquitous mucus biomaterials. Synthetic mucins are glycosylated polypeptides engineered to replicate the structure and function of natural mucins, but with the distinct advantages of scalability, stability, purity, and customization to meet specific customer requirements. Phase I research achieved higher-yield monomer synthesis and developed a material platform informed by structure-property relationships. Building on this, the Phase II objectives are to: (1) demonstrate at-scale synthesis of synthetic mucins, (2) develop skincare and wound healing products, (3) create synthetic mucins for molecular delivery applications, including mucosal barrier models, (4) apply synthetic mucins in anti-icing aerospace coatings, and (5) formulate synthetic mucin-based eye lubricants. Notably, many of these applications utilize the same synthetic mucin polymers. A key technical challenge remaining is the removal of a toxic catalyst used in the hydrogenation step. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.