Tall trees in biotechnology

Louise Marston - 25.10.2011

Last week, investors, technologists and policy makers converged on NESTA to discuss the future of Industrial Biotechnology in the UK. Industrial Biotechnology deals with all those applications of microorganisms outside healthcare. It creates the opportunity to use alternatives to oil, to reuse waste, and to transform materials with low energy use. Oils secreted by microalgae can be harvested and used as biofuels, while sugar from beet and cane can be transformed

Although what might be called the industrial biotechnology sector is small in the UK, it has the capacity to transform industries as varied as chemicals, waste treatment, energy production and plastics - industries with a combined value in the UK of £81 billion, and employing more than 800,000 people.

Speaking at the event were Philip Brain, one of the researchers, alongside Mark Morgan, an industry analyst from CMAI Global; Ian Shott, co-chair of the Industrial Biotechnology leadership forum at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; and Rob Wylie, a venture investor in biotechnology and Founder Partner of WHEB Partners.

The research NESTA commissioned covered a series of more than 30 interviews with companies, funders and intermediaries across the industry. The responses from these interviews have been put together to form a collective view of the industry. Overall, the picture that emerges from the research is not of a coherent sector, but a set of biological tools being used in different ways in different industries. Although our university science is seen as world-class, this is not always well-connected to the industrial skills needed to apply this knowledge and commercialise it.

Ian Shott underlined that many of the issues of fragmentation and leadership are being resolved through the Leadership Forum, and their links to other bodies such as the Technology Strategy Board Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTNs). However, the main purpose of the report was to look at funding issues, and address the fundamental problems of funding an industry where full-scale production of a new technology can require hundreds of millions of pounds.

Mark Morgan and Rob Wylie both made the point that there are investments and opportunities available at the £3 to £5 million scale, by building on existing processes or retro-fitting existing infrastructure. Not every technology needs a brand new plant before it can be implemented. There are several stages in most chemical manufacturing processes, and each one presents an opportunity for a biotechnology process to provide improvement, cost savings or to remove a problematic component.

Mark Morgan also made the point that the technology is often not the barrier to commercialisation. A network of relationships and partnerships need to be in place for successful commercialisation, from the source of the feedstock to the financing and project management. Sorting these other links out is often more of a priority than further demonstrating the technology.

Overall, the picture was of a technology where those generating research and novel uses for biotechnology need better links to the companies and industrial processes that might be able to put them to use. We will be following this up with further development of some of the policies that might support this in the next few months.

To download the report, and view the video of the launch event, visit the report page on the NESTA website.