Green Bioactives scales with two contracts and product launch

Green Bioactives, the plant biotechnology start-up which opened for business at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, has secured two new international contracts, as it gears up to launch its first consumer product later this year.

The Roslin-based company will supply its high-value biochemicals – which are derived from plant materials and are key ingredients in a variety of food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic products – to a major US chemical company and a Chinese pharmaceuticals manufacturer to use in their respective production lines.

After recently receiving regulatory approval, Green Bioactives is also targeting the launch of a memory-enhancing supplement – commonly referred to as nootropics – in the autumn. Made from natural plant molecules, it will be the only clinically trialled product of its kind and has been shown to boost memory in healthy individuals by 15%-28%.

The start-up has been supported in its development by the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC). Green Bioactives used the innovation centre’s Bioprocessing Scale Up Centres to increase the production volume of its cultured plant cells, helping to scale production from 50 millilitre laboratory flasks to 20 litre commercial containers.

Gary Loake, CEO and co-founder of Green Bioactives, said: “Winning these two contracts is validation of the technology we have been developing and our products’ relevance to a variety of international markets. The high-value biochemicals we produce are a sustainable ingredient for many cosmetic, pharmaceutical, food and agricultural products, which makes our addressable market very wide. We are really optimistic despite the challenges faced in getting Green Bioactives up and running during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The regulatory approval of our consumer nootropics offering is another highly positive piece of news. When it launches later this year the product will act as another important revenue stream for us as we diversify the business. We expect it to be available through a number of well-known retailers, and are in talks to make that happen as we raise more business and make more connections.

“IBioIC’s support has been invaluable in our development. The innovation centre’s Scale Up Centre gave us access to facilities we wouldn’t have been able to use otherwise, and the opportunity to trial bioreactors before we decided to invest our capital in them.”

Based at Heriot-Watt University and the University of Strathclyde, IBioIC’s Bioprocessing Scale-Up Centres offer access to a wide range of fermentation technologies and services, from small scale culture to pilot production. The innovation centre currently has an open call for projects for its Scale-Up Accelerator, which offers SMEs, companies, and academia the opportunity to develop, optimise, or scale bioprocesses and gain access to specialist equipment in either facility.

Neil Renault, biofacilities & operations manager at IBioIC, said: “Green Bioactives is a great example of what emerging companies can achieve through our Scale Up Centres and working with our dedicated on-site team. Biotechnology companies can often face challenge around scaling their products, with performance changing as you increase production volumes and, with that, the need to use new and larger pieces of equipment.

“Our facilities are about giving small companies and start-ups access to what they need in the early stages of their development, when how they deploy their capital is incredibly important. There are a lot of exciting Scottish biotechnology companies working with natural materials that have global potential – we look forward to seeing how Green Bioactives develops and continuing our support for the business.”