Singapore CDMO ScaleUp Bio announces new customers, Allozymes and Algrow Biosciences

ScaleUp Bio, a CDMO service provider based in Singapore, has announced new strategic customer partnerships with Allozymes and Algrow Biosciences, which among others, underscore a growing global reach and appeal for the company’s lab-to-market value proposition.

"ScaleUp Bio has scaled quickly since we were formed in 2022 and announced our first round of customer-partners even before the opening of our R&D facility. Today, we add to that roster, and with others currently in our pipeline, we look forward to enabling and empowering these dynamic food innovators from around the world to realise their ambitions,” said Francisco Codoñer, CEO of ScaleUp Bio, who is one of +85 speakers at The Future of Protein Production Chicago on 24/25 April 2024. “With the tremendous support of our parent companies, global nutrition leader ADM and Singapore’s own global investment giant Temasek and its Nurasa unit, we are beginning to deliver on our promise to fulfil a critical need for firms seeking to innovate through precision fermentation.”

Allozymes, a leading provider of enzymatic solutions, will leverage ScaleUp Bio's state-of-the-art Fermentation Joint Lab to expedite the development of enzyme-based solutions tailored to enhance food processing efficiency and sustainability. Through precision fermentation, this Singapore-based food tech start-up aims to pioneer new avenues for waste reduction and improved resource utilization in the food industry.

“Our partnership with ScaleUp Bio at the Fermentation Joint Lab epitomises our commitment to pioneering sustainable food manufacturing solutions through innovation," stated Peyman Salehian, CEO & Co-Founder of Allozymes. "We're leveraging cutting-edge technology and expertise to accelerate breakthroughs in enzyme engineering and fermentation science. This collaboration amplifies our ability to deliver cleaner, more efficient processes, towards our goal of revolutionising industries while redefining the standards of sustainability worldwide.”

Through the partnership with ScaleUp Bio, Singapore-based Algrow Biosciences has already begun to successfully produce clean, high-pure, and scalable protein pigment from algae at a pre-commercial scale. Produced in ScaleUp Bio’s state-of-the-art Singapore facilities and with the assistance and partnership of its dedicated professionals, Algrow Biosciences’ goal is to create better ingredients for a more sustainable and nutritious food system, made with microalgae.

“We are excited for our partnership with ScaleUp Bio, and the great progress made so far in our R&D and pre-commercial trial runs," enthused Sudhir Kumar Pasupuleti, CEO & Co-Founder of Algrow Biosciences. "With the successful outcomes, we are excited to scale up to higher volumes of our product, working closely with Scaleup Bio. This collaboration has been instrumental in our journey, leveraging ScaleUp Bio's expertise in fermentation and bioprocessing to optimise our production processes. Their team's deep knowledge and state-of-the-art facilities have been invaluable assets, enabling us to achieve promising results and pave the way for commercial-scale manufacturing."

ScaleUp Bio also announced it has received two signed Letters of Intent (LOI) from new food-tech innovators, from Canada and the UK respectively. Canada-based Terra Bioindustries upcycles agrifood by-products into sustainable inputs, reducing waste and carbon emissions while promoting circular economy principles. UK-based Argento Labs leverages biotechnologies such as biomass to create new high-value products and has signed an LOI with ScaleUp Bio towards establishing a long-term research and development partnership.

Signing of an LOI in ScaleUp Bio’s customer development process ensures prospective customers can already reserve time blocks in ScaleUp Bio’s mission-critical laboratory or pilot-production facility use early on. They can already begin incorporating those reservations in their business planning, while overall negotiations towards mutually beneficial customer agreements are completed.

"We are thrilled about the prospects of our forthcoming partnership with ScaleUp Bio and the early advancements achieved in our R&D protocols," noted Agustin Llamas, Founder & COO of Argento Labs (also known as Ag Labs). "This collaboration will enable us to develop samples for prospective clients, refine our design and engineering, ultimately enhancing efficiency and lowering production costs."

ScaleUp Bio brings to market a truly, 'one-stop-shop' offering dedicated food-grade facilities to support R&D to pilot stage commercial production, coupled with the right scientific and technical assistance, access to a blue-chip business ecosystem and potential, top-tier funding, all of which are needed by ambitious food tech start-ups to bring their ideas to reality.

The Fermentation Joint Lab is Singapore’s first R&D lab and pilot facility specialising in submerged microbial and precision fermentation, jointly developed and operated facility by A*STAR’s (Singapore Agency For Science, Technology and Research) Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI). The shared lab became operational in Q4 2023 and serves as a key hub for research and innovation in the food tech industry. With its advanced equipment, including a 100-litre bioreactor, the Fermentation Joint Lab operates as a mini-factory, facilitating easy scale-up for companies seeking to commercialise their fermentation-based products.

Once a customer’s products reach viability, ScaleUp Bio stands ready to facilitate further scalability at its pilot-scale commercial manufacturing facility in Tuas, Singapore. A first for Singapore, and amongst only a few such facilities globally – offering up to 10,000 liters fermentation capacity for pilot-stage manufacturing. Innovation hubs and technical specialists are on hand to ensure quality control and safe production standards, coupled with a full suite of business advisory, Asia market entry, and other related services.

"Singapore’s unique culture, where government, science, the academe, business and civil society work collaboratively, ensures customer-partners can ideate and innovate, supported by an ecosystem of top-tier talent and resources. Through the support of our parent companies, ADM and Temasek’s Nurasa, we are so excited for the possibilities we can offer global food tech start-ups looking to scale up now,” concluded Codoñer.