News and Trends 23 Feb 2022 EU Bioeconomy Fund Bags €300M to Scale up Sustainability Companies The European Circular Bioeconomy Fund has smashed its funding target by raising €300M. The aim is to help sustainability-focused biotechs scale up and usher in a ‘bio-revolution’ in Europe. As European economies grapple with the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, policymakers have pledged to prioritize sustainability in plans such as the European Green Deal. However, […] February 23, 2022 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 31 Jan 2022 Nature’s Painters: Making Sustainable Colors with Microbes The production of textile dyes and food colorants can have a big environmental footprint. Biotech startups are rising to the challenge by engineering bacteria, fungi, and algae to sustainably produce natural colors. Eight years ago, University of Cambridge researcher Jim Ajioka was in Nepal helping to produce a biosensor to detect arsenic in drinking water […] January 31, 2022 - 9 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Sponsored by Merck 26 Jan 2022 Top Reasons to Outsource Your Early Clinical Pipeline to a CDMO Biotech firms partner with contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) to leverage their expertise in process development, optimization, and scale-up. In this article, we share an exclusive sneak-peek into a recent survey, which explores the main reasons why biotech companies collaborate with CDMOs at different stages of drug development. To make a new drug candidate […] January 26, 2022 - 8 minutesmins - By Sudha Sundaram Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 18 Jan 2022 Biomining: Turning Waste into Gold with Microbes High-value metals make the modern world go round, but the way we extract and dispose of them is far from sustainable. Biomining could be an elegant and lucrative alternative. From the gold and silver in consumer electronics to the rare earth elements needed to power renewable energy technologies, metals underpin the transition to a high-tech, […] January 18, 2022 - 7 minutesmins - By Farhan Mitha Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Nov 2021 Sustainability in Focus as Two VCs Build Industrial Biotech Funds As this month’s COP26 United Nations climate summit highlighted the climate change emergency, venture capital fundraises from Sofinnova and the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund have led the push for industrial biotechnology to further shift the global economy away from fossil fuels. Yesterday, the venture capital (VC) firm Sofinnova Partners raised €150M for an early-stage environmental […] November 18, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 1 Oct 2021 Novo Nordisk Foundation Pumps €85M into Carbon Capture Research As pressure mounts to tackle climate change, the Danish Novo Nordisk Foundation has granted €84.7M to the world’s first research institution dedicated to capturing carbon dioxide from the air and harnessing the gas as a raw material. The new Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Research Center has the mission to efficiently capture, store, and recycle the […] October 1, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 25 Aug 2021 After Years of Neglect, Algae Biotechnology Makes a Comeback Despite their ability to create matter out of thin air, algae and cyanobacteria have long been neglected by the biotech industry. Recently, however, they have started to gain traction in new market niches. In the center of Paris, just across from Marie Curie’s old laboratory, Pierre Crozet, Associate Professor at Sorbonne University, studies photosynthesis. His […] August 25, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By Kostas Vavitsas Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 21 Jul 2021 What the EU’s Single-Use Plastics Ban Means for the Bioplastics Industry A European directive banning a range of single-use plastics came into law this month. How are the new regulations impacting industrial biotech companies developing bioplastics? In an attempt to reduce staggeringly high levels of plastic pollution seen around the world, particularly in marine environments, the 27 EU member states and Norway agreed in 2019 to […] July 21, 2021 - 10 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 14 Jun 2021 Biomimicry in Biotech: Taking Inspiration from Nature Scouring the natural world can be an effective way of finding design inspiration for new scientific innovation. Several biotech companies are using biomimicry to develop weird and wonderful bio-inspired products. If you’re looking to design a new tool to overcome a scientific challenge, chances are that evolution has beaten you to it. It’s not […] June 14, 2021 - 7 minutesmins - By Farhan Mitha Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Jun 2021 The Top European Biotech Investment Rounds in May Last month saw huge biotech investment rounds dedicated to Covid-19 vaccines in Europe, including IPOs by Valneva and Vaccitech. However, a €227M (£195M) private round by the DNA sequencing giant Oxford Nanopore Technologies made the biggest splash. Last month was a difficult one for a number of public biotech companies. Biotech stock indices proved volatile […] June 10, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 17 Mar 2021 Feed Additives Put the Brakes on Cattle Methane Emissions Research into how feed additives interact with the gut microbiome of cattle is paving the way towards a new strategy to tackle one of the main contributors to global warming. Feeding over seven billion people comes with a massive carbon footprint. The agriculture sector demands the clearing of large areas of forests. Unsustainable agricultural practices […] March 17, 2021 - 8 minutesmins - By Sachin Rawat Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 20 Jan 2021 Biotech Drives the Water Purification Industry Towards a Circular Economy Water purification has never been more important, but antiquated methods and a lack of innovation have held the sector back. Biotechnology proposes solutions that bring us one step closer to a true circular economy. Rising populations and pollution levels mean that water purification is now more crucial than ever before. However, much of the industry […] January 20, 2021 - 10 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email