Scotland builds a biotech future

It’s no secret, globally our environment is changing. We’re seeing a rise in population, a rapid depletion of resources, increasing environmental pressures and climate change.  That’s why there’s never been a more important time to invest in industrial biotechnology ­ – a new innovation centre based in Scotland will bring together research, innovation and commercialisation in IB related activity In November  last year, Scotland launched a new plan to highlight the impact of investing in industrial biotechnology (IB) – the use of biological substances, systems and processes during production which is cost effective and has minimal adverse environmental impact – supporting its wider sustainable high value manufacturing ambition. Globally, the IB sector is estimated to be worth up to £360 billion by 2025 and Scotland is well placed to capture a share of this emerging market. Caroline Strain, head of chemical sciences at Scottish Enterprise explains Strain explains: “Scotland has a strong company base and academic excellence in research and innovation, supported by pooling initiatives such as ScotCHEM, SULSA, ETP and Interface Food and Drink Innovation.  These are just a couple of reasons why Scotland is ripe for this opportunity. “Combine those with its environment and natural resources rich in agriculture, forestry, coastal and marine and its strong track record of collaborations and partnerships – an essential requirement in industrial biotechnology – and there’s no doubt that Scotland is in the best possible position to make this transformational change and capitalise on this emerging global market.” There are currently just over 40 companies in Scotland which deliver IB activities, leading chemical sciences companies including Ineos, Fujifilm, GlaxoSmithKline, Ingenza, Celtic Renewables and Equateq. Together these companies employ over 1,100 people and deliver an annual turnover of £189 million, 2.1% of the £9 billion chemical sciences sector turnover. Launched at EcoChem in Switzerland in November by Scottish Enterprise, the National Plan for industrial Biotechnology – A Cleaner, Greener 2025, aims to increase this figure to achieve turnover of £900 million a year from IB-related activities or 10 % of the chemical sciences turnover by 2025. It aims to do this by building on Scotland’s existing strengths in IB through encouraging greater levels of research and innovation. It aims to achieve this through four key themes: encouraging greater industry engagement through increasing awareness and uptake of technologies; helping address any skill shortages or barriers to learning; creating an innovation centre to help position Scotland as a leading hub for IB innovation; and scoping out the potential for a biorefinery/biochemical facility in Scotland. In February this year, the IB Plan reached a key milestone in the launch of the new Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC). IBioIC is one of eight innovation centres being funded across Scotland by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and is supported by Scotland’s economic development agencies, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Hosted by the University of Strathclyde, it aims to bring together 13 academic institutions and industry partners to encourage higher levels of research, innovation and commercialisation in IB related activity. Chief executive of the new innovation centre, Roger Kilburn said: “Scotland is the perfect location to host an industrial biotechnology innovation centre, not least because of the overwhelming commitment and support from the Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Government and its economic development agencies, academic institutions and industry. “Our vision is to create a truly distinctive, world-leading industrial biotechnology innovation centre that accelerates and de-risks the development and commercialisation of commercially viable and fully sustainable solutions. In doing so, we will establish an innovation and growth engine yielding substantial commercial impact.” Within its first five years, IBioIC expects to raise around £46 million of investment, taking Scotland to a forefront position in IB internationally. SFC has contributed an initial £10 million towards the innovation centre with further contributions expected through various sources including industrial membership contributions and external funding agencies such as RCUK, Horizon 2020 and TSB. Set out it in its Vision 2030 document, IBioIC aims to surpass the targets set by Scotland’s National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology by raising the estimated turnover of industrial biotechnology-related products from £189 million to between £2 billion and £3 billion by 2030. Kilburn added: “Over the next five years, we aim to create 1,500 new jobs both directly through the innovation centre and indirectly through companies involved in growing the industrial biotechnology market, as well as add an additional £130 million of GVA to the Scottish economy.” IBioIC aims to support the development of innovative new products and manufacturing processes to bring them closer to industrial reality. It invited applications during February to help identify these ‘exemplar projects’ to be considered for funding of up to £250,000. These industry-led projects will be delivered in partnership with a minimum of one of IBioIC's Higher Education Institute (HEI) partners and demonstrate a clear market need/commercial opportunity which will be complete to its key commercial milestone within 12 months of its start date. This initial competition is anticipated to attract high quality applications which are technically feasible, have a degree of ambition, invention and agreement within the parties for any IP exploitation. The number of projects which receive funding will be determined by the merits of the applications, however it is expected that between two and five will be awarded funding in this competition. Kilburn continued: “Supporting innovative IB technologies to market is a key component of IBioIC.  We are particularly interested in the areas of fermentation, enzyme design and modification, seaweed harvest and extraction, creation of high value materials from biomass, the conversion of forestry products to alternative materials and biomass waste conversion to biofuel and would encourage projects in these areas.” Having access to the appropriate skills is critical in the development of IB technology and as such is a key focus for the innovation centre. IBioIC aims to support between 10 and 20 PhD studentships in its first year and has launched a call for PhD Studentships with the intent of forming a Doctoral College in IB, stimulating both the research base and providing highly trained technical experts in this exciting but complex science. Similar to the exemplar projects, these will be aligned to IBioIC’s five major themes (sustainable feedstocks, Enzymes and Biocatalysis/Biotransformation, Cell Factory Construction and Process Physiology, Downstream Processing and Integrated Bioprocessing) and demonstrate a clear market need/commercial opportunity that is met by the innovative use of industrial biotechnology. They will be sponsored and led by an IBioIC HEI partner and should include, where possible, the support of at least one of IBioIC's industrial members. In addition to the PhD studentships, the innovation centre will also work closely with partners and stakeholders such as Skills Development Scotland, the Chemical Sciences Scotland Skills Group and the Sector Skills Councils to ensure the appropriate skills are available and training needs are met. Developing skills and qualifications specifically relating to IB such as an MSc, HND, and modern apprenticeships, will be a priority for this group and form a key part of the skills development plan. Ultimately, however, what will underpin Scotland’s success in IB is collaboration and IBioIC will play a key role bringing industry, academia and the public sector together to enhance Scotland’s proposition and capture a share of this growing market. IBioIC will continue to support the delivery of the National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology, which during 2014 will focus its activities on delivering a roadmap towards a Biorefinery/Biochemical facility in Scotland – engaging companies to participate in Horizon 2020 and TSB IB funding calls and promoting company engagement through the Knowledge Transfer Networks. More information To find out more about how Scotland can capitalise on the emerging industrial biotechnology market please visit www.ibioic.com or for more information about project submissions, please contact Jude Huggan at PhDadmissions@ibioic.com.