How biomanufacturing can boost new product development [Interview]

Biotech applications are driving innovation across the food industry, which help manufacturers meet evolving consumer demands while addressing environmental concerns and sustainable supply.

At this year’s Fi Europe, industrial biotech firm Bota Biosciences will be on hand to demonstrate how powerful biomanufacturing can be for the food and nutrition sector.

The company has pioneered end-to-end infrastructure capabilities – from bio-computation aided design to high-throughput screening and process optimisation – enabling sustainable production at an industrial scale. To consistently deliver these high-quality products and solutions in a stable and sustainable manner, Bota Biosciences has also established its own manufacturing facility.

“This infrastructure enables us to support customers and partners across industries such as nutrition, food, and personal care,” says CEO Cheryl Cui. “We believe that by collaborating with us, brands and manufacturers can achieve clean labels, ensure supply sustainability, and swiftly address emerging and specialised market demands.”

Shift to sustainable living through innovation

An important goal of Bota Biosciences is to accelerate the shift to sustainable living through innovation. The company will be at Fi Europe to share the launch of a subsidiary company, Helia. This spin-off will continuously deliver natural shelf-life extension and nutritional supplement ingredients to the market, but also provides formulated solutions to specialised customer’s needs.

“Our aim is to foster the development of products and solutions that are not only healthy and safe but also tasty,” explains Cui. “In product development, we focus on four aspects that bring the most value to customers: function, nutrition, texture, and flavour. We start with the function need: natural and safe food preservation.”

The company launched a series of bio-preservatives this year, which complements a growing product portfolio. These products include nisin, a natural, fermentation-enabled shelf-life extender designed to protect processed meats, cheeses and other foods. The product works by preventing the growth of gram-positive bacteria like Listeria monocytogenes and Bacillus.

Another ingredient that will be discussed at Fi Europe is polylysine. This is a natural, fermentation-enabled shelf-life extender to protect drinks, starch-based products, meats and other foods. It works by inhibiting the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and moulds. “Our product polylysine can significantly improve bread and cake shelf-life performance during storage when compared to traditional shelf-life extenders,” adds Cui.

Accelerate product development to meet market demand

The launch of Helia marks an exciting new chapter in the Bota Biosciences story, which has already achieved a number of milestones. “[By] leveraging Bota Biosciences' biotechnology platform and biomanufacturing infrastructure, Helia will be able to accelerate product development to meet emerging market demands,” says Cui.  

In 2020, the company was recognised as one of the ‘50 Smartest Companies’ by MIT Technology Review. The following year, Bota made it to Chemical and Engineering News’ coveted list of ‘10 Start-Ups to Watch’ in 2021. Most recently, in 2023, the company received the esteemed recognition from the World Economic Forum to join its unicorn technology pioneer community.

Cui, who co-founded Bota Biosciences, earned her joint PhD in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from MIT and Harvard Medical School. Her research in building synthetic gene circuits and molecular systems have led to publications in Science and Nature journals.

Her session at this year’s Fi Europe, entitled ‘Biomanufacturing empowering food and nutrition’ will take place at the Fi Conference Theatre at 12:00 on 20 November, and will touch on the transformative impact of biotechnology, briefly showcasing several key products from Bota Biosciences’ portfolio.