INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
ADM | October 22, 2021
ADM a global leader in nutrition and agricultural origination and processing, annoThis investment will help ADM more quickly advance projects in the field of precision microbial fermentation by leveraging Acies Bio’s extensive microbial capabilities and contract manufacturing services.
“Microbial technology is unlocking disruptive opportunities in sustainable agriculture, sustainable materials and fuels, and alternative proteins, We’re propelling growth opportunities by working with innovators who appreciate our unique combination of expertise, capacity and access to feedstocks. Now, by investing to become a minority owner in Acies Bio, we’re opening up the door to new collaboration with an innovative, complementary business to meet the growing demand for products developed via microbial fermentation.”
Ian Pinner, ADM chief strategy and innovation officer.
Founded in 2006, Acies Bio develops innovative, proprietary microbial and synthetic biology-based platforms and technologies and also offers contract R&D services in microbial strain engineering and fermentation for customers in key growth segments, including sustainable agriculture, functional foods and bio-based industrial chemicals.
“Acies Bio’s core mission is to use the nearly unlimited power of microbial diversity to drive disruptive innovation and help create a more sustainable bio-based future,” said Enej Kuščer, Acies Bio's co-founder and director. “This strategic partnership with ADM will allow Acies Bio to expand and accelerate the development of our platform technologies, which aim to replace synthetic chemicals and the often carbon-intensive production currently used in food and agriculture with microbial, bio-based products.”
“This investment from ADM will also allow Acies Bio to expand our infrastructure and increase the high-throughput capabilities of our SmartRoute platform, which will allow faster development of new technologies and products,” said Štefan Fujs, Acies Bio's co-founder and director. “This will speed-up the internal pipeline and also help us deliver more quality services to our partners and collaborators.”
ADM’s investment in Acies Bio is being made through ADM Ventures, the company’s corporate venture capital arm. ADM Ventures invests in cutting-edge start-ups with disruptive technologies across three key areas: human nutrition, animal nutrition and sustainability. ADM Ventures also seeks startups that utilize ADM’s assets and feedstocks to produce sustainable materials, in addition to technologies that enhance the effectiveness or efficiency of ADM’s operations.
About Acies Bio
Acies Bio is a leading European microbial biotechnology company that develops new bioproducts and sustainable production processes for diverse industrial sectors, including pharma, food/feed, agricultural, and industrial biotechnology. With an emphasis on sustainability and using Acies Bio’s unique SmartRoute microbial platform, including synthetic biology and strain engineering, high-throughput screening, precision bioprocess and downstream development, the company has successfully developed and scaled numerous innovative products and precision fermentation technologies with industrial partners worldwide.
About ADM
At ADM, we unlock the power of nature to provide access to nutrition worldwide. With industry-advancing innovations, a complete portfolio of ingredients and solutions to meet any taste, and a commitment to sustainability, we give customers an edge in solving the nutritional challenges of today and tomorrow. We’re a global leader in human and animal nutrition and the world’s premier agricultural origination and processing company. Our breadth, depth, insights, facilities and logistical expertise give us unparalleled capabilities to meet needs for food, beverages, health and wellness, and more. From the seed of the idea to the outcome of the solution, we enrich the quality of life the world over.
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RESEARCH
TetraScience | September 03, 2021
TetraScience, the R&D Data Cloud company, announced today that Zymeworks Inc. has selected the Tetra Data Platform (TDP) to standardize and automate scientific data flow. As a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of next-generation multifunctional biotherapeutics, Zymeworks' R&D engine generates and analyzes large amounts of scientific data in its quest to revolutionize drug design.
"In order to take advantage of innovative data science applications including AI/ML, it's important to start with harmonizing R&D data in the cloud," stated Chad Garrett, TetraScience CRO, "We're excited to partner with Zymeworks on their data cloud initiative and help them deliver on their mission to enable patients to return home to their loved ones, disease free."
The initial Zymeworks deployment of Tetra Data Platform is in production and integrated with key systems and instruments supporting critical lab workflows. By automating and standardizing the flow of data across all sources and targets, the Tetra R&D Data Cloud will deliver faster and richer insights for Zymeworks' scientists. Additionally, Zymeworks will benefit from cloud-native architecture with greater uptime, security, redundancy, governance, and archival capabilities.
About TetraScience
TetraScience is the R&D Data Cloud company with a mission to transform life sciences R&D, accelerate discovery, and improve and extend human life. The Tetra R&D Data Cloud provides life sciences companies with the flexibility, scalability, and data-centric capabilities to enable easy access to centralized, harmonized, and actionable scientific data and is actively deployed across enterprise pharma and biotech organizations. As an open platform, TetraScience has built the largest integration network of lab instruments, informatics applications, CRO/CDMOs, analytics, and data science partners, creating seamless interoperability and an innovation feedback loop that will drive the future of life sciences R&D.
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Sartorius | November 03, 2020
Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB), a leading partner of the biopharma industry, successfully closed the acquisition of the Slovenian purification specialist BIA Separations. The transaction was completed on November 2, 2020, after receiving the required approvals. "BIA's portfolio is highly complementary to Sartorius Stedim Biotech. We are thus creating an excellent offering for the manufacturing of gene therapies and other advanced therapies, and are pleased to welcome 120 new employees," said Dr. Joachim Kreuzburg, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Sartorius Stedim Biotech. The total purchase price of the transaction is 360 million euros of which 240 million euros were paid in cash and 120 million euros in SSB shares. Both parties have further agreed on three tranches of earn-out payments based on performance over the next five financial years. SSB has been preparing to integrate BIA Separations so this can now be initiated despite the special conditions prevailing during the pandemic. BIA Separations develops and manufactures market-leading products for purification and analysis of large biomolecules, such as viruses, plasmids and mRNA, which are used in cell and gene therapies and other advanced therapies. BIA's technology for manufacturing-scale purification is already used in production of the first commercialized advanced therapeutics, and the company also has a strong presence with such novel drug candidates in the clinical pipeline. Expecting continued very strong double-digit sales growth over the next few years, BIA is forecasted to earn sales revenue of approx. 25 million euros in 2020 at profit margins that will be accretive to the underlying EBITDA margin of the Sartorius Stedim Biotech Group. The transaction is not expected to have any material impact on Sartorius Stedim Biotech's 2020 results.
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