Winners of £20m biotech competition revealed
17 Feb 2015
Business secretary Vince Cable today announced the 23 winners of the £20 million Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst-funded biotechnology innovation competition.
The projects, which range from biofuel production to using bacteria to develop novel medicines, are designed to revolutionise the emerging UK biotechnology sector and bring biotechnology innovations to market.
The funding has been pledged collectively via the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and Innovate UK - formerly the Technology Strategy Board.
“This funding will help our talented researchers across the UK
Vince Cable MP
“Whether it’s developing new antibiotics, producing plastics from plants or creating allergy-free products, this funding will help our talented researchers across the UK continue to bring their innovative ideas to market,” said Cable while on a visit to Ingenza, a synthetic biology firm based in Scotland.
As one of the 23 winners, Ingenza will receive roughly £680,000 of funding to help research across two projects (see box).
Managing director at Ingenza Ian Fotheringham said: “At Ingenza we use innovative synthetic biology tools to increase the speed, scale, and predictability with which we can build or redesign biological systems for commercial applications.”
The winning projects are as follows:
- A new generation of E. coli expression hosts and tools for recombinant protein production | University of Kent
- A Combinatorial Approach to Enhance Production of Monoclonal Antibodies | University of York
- Developing platforms for the production of diterpenoids | University of York
- Manufacture of complex protein polymers for industry and medicine | Newcastle University
- Improved downstream operation through formulation innovation | Arecor/CPI/ FujiFilm Diosynth Biotechnologies
- Bioplastic polymers based on aromatic dicarboxylic acids derived from lignin | Biome Technologies/ CPI/ University of Warwick/University of Leeds
- ALGIPRO - Alginates by Production Scale Fermentation and Epimerisation | CPI/AlgiPharma/ FMC Biopolymer
- Combinatorial genome editing to create enhanced biomanufacturing platforms | Horizon Discovery/ CPI NBMC/ University of Manchester
- Efficient production of first in class antimicrobial therapeutics from an integrated synthetic biology approach | Ingenza/Plymouth University
- A naturally inspired industrial biotechnology route to the manufacture of a novel biopolymer with unique properties | Ingenza/ Synthomer
- Industrial validation of nanofibre platform technology for biotherapeutics manufacture | Puridify/UCL
- Much-efficient and cost-effective manufacturing of antibody biotherapeutics employing integrated negative chromatography technology | UCB/BioToolomics
- Development of superior Clostridial strains for low cost renewable chemical production | GreenBiologics
- Biochemical production of succinic acid from biorefinery glycerol: De-risking, scale-up, and feasibility | University of Manchester/ CPI/ Brocklesby
- PeriTune - a clonal optimisation platform | University of Manchester/Cobra Biologics
- Development of new tools for de novo polyketide synthase design | Isomerase/University of Cambridge
- Generation of a library of recombineered novel polyketides and non-ribosomal peptides | Isomerase/ Biosyntha/ John Innes Centre
- Discovery and development of large/diverse user-friendly panels of novel biocatalysts | Prozomix/ Northumbria University
- Engineering a Nano-factory for Peptide Synthesis | Generon/ University of Bristol
- In vivo selection of bioprocessable biopharmaceuticals | University of Leeds/MedImmune/Avacta Analytical
- Novel production processes for L-glufosinate | Acidophil
- Novel platform biotechnology for the production of natural next generation 3D nanomaterials and nanodevices | Cellucomp/James Hutton Insitute/ Mylnefield Research
- Driving down the cost of waste derived sugar | Fiberight/CPI/Rebio Technologies/ University of Leeds/Aston/Knauf/novozymes
