British biotechnology – Industrial biotechnology (IB) is the process of using natural resources to create new chemicals and ingredients; taking micro-organisms and enzymes to generate industrially useful products in a growing range of sectors, including biofuels, chemicals, textiles, food and drink -British biotechnology - Arhive
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British biotechnology
Roger Kilburn, CEO of the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre, argues that Innovative British biotechnology will add millions to the economy.
Industrial biotechnology (IB) is the process of using natural resources to create new chemicals and ingredients; taking micro-organisms and enzymes to generate industrially useful products in a growing range of sectors, including biofuels, chemicals, textiles, food and drink. IB is changing the world, transitioning products and processes from being petrochemical-based to bio-based and, as such, offering one of the most promising new approaches to industrial resource conservation. It creates the opportunities to accelerate existing markets and develop new ones whilst protecting the environment. On an individual scale, everything we use in our daily lives can be re-imagined using IB processes so that we are more sustainable, which leads to greater results including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and waste generation.
It is estimated that by 2025, the UK IB market will be worth up to £12bn (~€13.5bn), and considering the current rate of innovation and growth, it is easy to see how. Some of the UK’s best-untapped resources for IB are carbon dioxide, agricultural wastes, municipal waste heading to the landfill, seaweed and timber waste. The combination of these feedstocks and the high level of academic expertise in the UK, particularly Scotland, is attracting investment from around the world.
Expertise
The IB sector requires different expertise from multiple organisations to work in collaboration in order to develop and commercialise new processes and transform the ways in which we manufacture products. Based in Scotland, the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) is helping businesses of all sizes achieve this.
IBioIC is a specialist in the IB sector, designed to stimulate the growth and success of the IB industry in Scotland by connecting the dots between industry, government and academia. It puts over 100 companies in contact with 200 academic teams, solving industrially led problems to create economic impact in Scotland and beyond. As such, it plays a key role in progressing the country towards achieving goals set out in the National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology, namely increasing IB-related turnover to £900m by 2025. The results are already apparent with an 18% increase in Scottish IB turnover to £230m, exceeding the original 2015 target of the National Plan by £30m.
The centre’s network of members has reached over 100 companies, including 42 small and medium-sized enterprises, 17 multi-national corporations, nine start-ups, five university spin-outs and three new companies created with the support of IBioIC. In keeping with the multidisciplinary nature of IB, these members comprise IB expertise from a wide range of industries, from life sciences to engineering to pharma. The network’s footprint is also not limited to Scotland alone; IBioIC has become a vehicle for international partnerships with almost half of its member base in Scotland and the rest from Europe, the US, and the rest of the world.
High value
Oxford Biotrans, a University of Oxford spin-out company, was recently welcomed as the 100th member of IBioIC, joining the likes of GSK, Scottish Water and Ingenza. Founded in 2013 and supported by over 20 years of research by Dr Luet Wong from the Department of Chemistry, the company is working to develop and commercialise enzymatic process technology to yield high-value chemicals from natural sources. Their processes are environmentally friendly as they produce less chemical waste and use less energy than traditional methods.
Their first product – natural-grade nootkatone – is a sesquiterpene, which is the flavour and scent of grapefruit and used in food, beverage and cosmetic applications, including enhancing in non-citrus flavours. Natural-grade nootkatone is traditionally an expensive aromatic; grapefruits are high in price compared to other fruits and large quantities are needed to extract commercial amounts of nootkatone – 400,000kg of grapefruit is needed to produce just 1kg of nootkatone. Whilst synthetic-grade nootkatone can be produced through chemical conversion, this process requires high temperatures, heavy metals and peroxides, and cannot be classed as natural in the European Union.
Oxford Biotrans has developed a process to convert natural valencene, a citrus extract readily obtained from oranges, the cheaper feedstock, into natural-grade nootkatone. It is now offering an attractive, secure and environmentally friendly supply of this in-demand compound. The company has just raised £2.1m from investment activities, which will enable them to accelerate market entry of further products in the pipeline, building on the performance and capabilities of their innovative platform technology.
Support
The ways in which Oxford Biotrans has used the support of IBioIC demonstrate exactly what the centre provides for its members. Firstly, it has used IBioIC’s support to develop collaborative networks and secure project partners. IBioIC provides a platform for its 100 companies across eight different sectors to collaborate and offer expertise, processes and facilities to each other, as well as helping them get in touch with the right people to guide them through IB and its consequent implementation into their business.
Secondly, Oxford Biotrans used IBioIC’s support to secure grant funding. IBioIC provides its members with access to different types of monetary investment, including three distinct project types offering funding to support the commercialisation of IB. To date, IBioIC has funded 32 industry-led projects with a total value of £8.1m and a total grant amount of £3.8m. The centre can also match and top up investment from other organisations.
Thirdly, Oxford Biotrans is securing access to academic support through hosting an IBioIC PhD student in the organisation. As well as facilitating academic support, IBioIC can provide expert consultation and advice should a member company have a specific query or technical problem that they do not have the expertise or resources to address. As IB is a complex and multi-disciplinary sector where no individual organisation has the capacity to develop and commercialise a bioprocess alone, this support is crucial. Furthermore, it can particularly help with up-scaling products and bridging the valley of death, i.e. bringing a concept to industry.
Scaling-up
Last but not least, Oxford Biotrans will use IBioIC’s scale-up facilities in the future to test new ideas and processes for commercialisation. Members of IBioIC have access to its two equipment centres, which not only provide the equipment but also the expertise needed to generate, manage and interpret very specialised data. Again, this helps with accelerating projects from the laboratory to industry scale, and also means that members no longer have to go abroad to gain access to the same equipment and expertise, consequently keeping investment in the UK. Attracting a total investment of £2.7m, the two equipment centres will enable Scotland to continue as a hub for biotechnology innovation and establish the UK as a key player in the global IB commercialisation market.
As a unique facility for the promotion of biological substances, systems and processes with 100-strong membership, IBioIC is well-placed to facilitate delivery of the government’s vision. More specifically, the centre is a crucial contributor to the Scottish National Plan for IB, and welcoming our 100th member, Oxford Biotrans, marks another significant step towards achieving the plan’s goals.
As IBioIC’s CEO, I’m proud to say that we’re aiming to do something remarkable: facilitating access to the equipment, education and expertise that will grow the nascent biotechnology industry into a powerhouse of Scotland’s economy, and delivering more than £1bn a year in new added value by 2030.
Roger Kilburn
CEO, IBioIC
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