Cases from across Europe

The biorevolution is well underway. The European biosolutions sector has a lot to offer the world, within everything from a healthy food production to sustainable clothing. We share with you a selection of cases on just how great the impact of implementing biosolutions could be.

Existing innovative biosolutions and the companies who produce them can make Europe's biorevolution happen. Over decades, we have been sowing the seeds for and shaping this revolution. Now, we need to create the best possible conditions for biosolutions companies to ensure that the coming biorevolution will also be European. We want the companies that were born in Europe to grow here instead of elsewhere.

But currently, we risk missing out on the opportunities of the biorevolution because of regulations that have been designed with fossil-based solutions in mind. Products and solutions that are based on natural materials and biological processes are stalled as they wait for approval. At the same time, the European system for regulatory approval and renewal is the slowest in the world. This situation risks driving companies and researchers out of Europe, and with them the chance for Europe to lead the biorevolution.

The European biosolutions sector has a wide variety of benefits to offer the world. However, they remain held back by obstacles in their efforts to create new solutions based on time-tested techniques from nature’s own toolbox. We have the knowledge. We have the companies. We have the techniques and we have the solutions. Let’s make Europe’s biorevolution happen. Here, you'll find a selection of innovative companies already pushing for change.

Case selection

21st.BIO

The Danish company 21st.BIO was founded to make industrial-scale precision fermentation technology accessible for bulk protein production. This enables biosolutions companies across the globe to successfully bring proteins to market faster and at a competitive cost, while removing significant risk from their ventures in precision fermentation. With a license to use Novonesis technology, 21st.BIO leverages its precision fermentation technology platform to develop highly productive microbial strains and optimal fermentation processes, plus offer production upscaling guidance to its customers. 21st.BIO is active across the nutrition, food, biomaterials, agriculture and even mining sectors.

AMSilk

The German company AMSilk is one of the prime movers in developing functional proteins that can be turned into strong and sustainable silk, replacing chemical products or products of animal origin. AMSilk’s patented technology allows for the production of spider silk proteins on an industrial scale, using a genetically-engineered microorganism. With biotechnology, AMSilk can produce a silk-like fibre that is vegan, completely biodegradable, and solely produced with renewable resources. The material has a variety of applications, ranging from super-fine yarn for silk-like fabric to super-resistant yarns for advanced materials, such as composites or car seats.

Biosphere

Biosphere is a key player in the Italian industrial biotechnology sector and works as a technology platform, delivering deep tech along with research-based scaling facilities in which other companies can improve and test their products. Biosphere provides research and development along with scale-up services in the field of fermentation and industrial biotechnology, supporting customers and partners in the industrialization of their projects. Turning today’s chemical industry into a biobased one requires strong collaboration between scientists and the industry. Biosphere is a key facilitator in this collaboration. Biosphere is also known for its development of tailor-made enzymes and microorganisms for a variety of market sectors.

Biotalys

The biobased crop protection product from the Belgian company Biotalys, a biofungicide named EVOCA™, is based on proteins - the core ingredient of nature. The proteins are produced through precision fermentation, a biological process that utilizes mainly sustainable and natural resources. It is a production method with great potential to become a sustainable alternative to conventional chemical pesticides. This is how the proteins work: They are mixed with water and then sprayed on the crop. Here they interfere with the cell wall of the fungus, which bursts, and the fungus dies off. The proteins themselves are fully biodegradable, turning into amino acids that could even be beneficial for soil life.

BRAIN Biotech

In Germany, a joint development program named ZeroCarbFP funded by the German government has been established to answer the question: what if we were able to convert the carbon from waste streams into valuable products – into a functional biomass? It uses biotechnology to identify enzymes and microorganisms that help utilise and transform waste streams into sources of raw materials. The best candidates are then optimised to prepare them for application in industrial production. The German company BRAIN Biotech is in charge of developing a biotechnological process that utilises biogenic CO2 from the production plants of Südzucker AG. The aim is to stabilise it for use as a raw material, convert it into valuable products, and eventually bring these processes to pilot scale.

dsm firmenich

The Swiss-Dutch company dsm-firmenich uses biotechnology to make the production of HMOs more efficient and sustainable for infant formula at an industrial scale. Here is how it works: dsm-firmenich uses a dedicated microorganism that has been subject to extensive research and checks to ensure its safety. Thanks to gene technology, the microorganism has been tailored to produce specific compounds: in this case, HMOs. The production is achieved through precision fermentation, which is a process through which microorganisms, such as bacteria, are fed with carbon sources, such as sugars, to produce other molecules (in this case, HMOs). This happens within an isolated and controlled environment in which temperature, pH, feeding material, and other factors are strictly controlled.

Epoch Biodesign

The UK company Epoch Biodesign has developed a technology that transforms plastic and textile waste into infinitely recyclable materials and everyday chemicals. By combining generative AI, biology and chemistry, Epoch engineers “biological machines” known as enzymes. These enzymes catalyse rapid, low-energy chemical reactions to break down long plastic molecules into their chemical building blocks, which can be used to make virgin-quality recycled materials again and again. With no compromise on cost or quality, Epoch Biodesign provides an end-of-life solution for complex pre-and post-consumer waste and is paving the way for a more sustainable, less polluted future in which production can be decoupled from fossil carbon extraction.

Koppert

The Dutch company Koppert has more than 55 years of experience in the production of natural enemies and microorganisms. Found in nature, Koppert’s products work as biological solutions for farmers and growers to protect their crops against pests and diseases. One example is Mycotal – a fungus that can attack and kill pests. Mycotal works as a bio-insecticide that prevents whiteflies and several other pests in vegetables, ornamentals, nursery trees, and soft fruit in protected cultivation. Bio-insecticides like Mycotal, which is already available on the market, originate from nature. They provide farmers and growers with tools to control pests and diseases in a sustainable and eco-friendly way.

Novonesis

The Danish company Novonesis produces beneficial bacterial cultures (food cultures) that optimize the fermentation process. Fermentation is an ancient way to keep food fresh for longer. It is a natural way to reduce spoilage and contamination with “bad” bacteria. This way, it is possible to enhance the quality, freshness and shelf-life of the final product. The food cultures create an extra protective hurdle against “bad” bacteria in, e.g., meat and dairy products, as well as in ready-to-eat foods, during processing, transportation, and storage, and even after the product has been opened. The use of selected food cultures can play an important role in achieving the EU goals related to the reduction of food waste and CO2-emissions.

Pili

The French bio-company Pili produces decarbonised colour alternatives based on renewable resources. And they do so by integrating biology with chemistry. The approach uses biomass in the form of renewable, traceable non-food raw materials that are utilised to manufacture products without tapping into food or fossil resources. Pili selects and optimises microorganisms and feeds them with biomass during fermentation to produce the building blocks of dyes and pigments. The biobased building block obtained is then converted into high-purity dyes, applying green chemistry principles such as low temperatures, water as a solvent, and catalytic methods to minimise waste. This process allows scalable, cost-effective dye manufacturing without compromising on quality.

PlantaRei BioTech

The Italian company PlantaRei® has developed and patented a green alternative to GPI named GPI 4PlanetTM using an active molecule that is naturally present in our organism. Unlike the traditional chemical process, it is based on a green production method that takes advantage of enzymes. Enzymatic reactions, in which specific proteins called enzymes interact with substrates to generate highly specific products, occur under mild conditions of temperature, pH, and pressure. By putting enzymes to work, PlantaRei® avoids the use of any chemical solvents, lowering the carbon footprint of production and resulting in a green product of high quality.

Syngenta

Swiss-based global company Syngenta has distributed a bio-fungicide, TAEGRO®, developed by Danish company Novonesis which will help reduce dependencies on conventional chemical pesticides. Based on specific strain bacteria endospores that are activated when mixed with water, TAEGRO® can protect fruits and vegetables with multiple modes of action that complement each other. Farmers - organic as well as conventional – can use the bio-fungicide TAEGRO® against broad spectrum diseases such as powdery mildews, botrytis, early blight, etc. This provides them with versatile and efficient protection for many crops cultivated throughout Europe, including grapes, berries, fruiting vegetables like tomato and cucurbits, as well as leafy and root vegetables.

Those Vegan Cowboys

The Belgian company Those Vegan Cowboys has built a stainless steel cow in their milk lab in Ghent, Belgium. You may call her Margaret, like that other Iron Lady who made European history. By using the age-old art of fermentation, Margaret serves the world real classic grass-fed cheese with the help of microbes. The process is called precision fermentation: a technology 50 years in the making. Margaret’s microorganisms are trained to express the casein milk proteins. Caseins are then produced at large scale by grass-fed fermentation. The result is animal free cheese made by a stainless steel cow. Free the cow from cheese production, and the environmental impact becomes practically zero – a major leap forward for the entire industry.