Ingenza has received support for its Unleashing Putida: Biobased Methacrylates for a Sustainable Future project with a grant from Innovate UK and Eureka. The research is being undertaken in collaboration with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Japan, and Mitsubishi Chemical Methacrylates, UK, and aims to accelerate the commercialisation of Pseudomonas putida as a host for the biobased production of methacrylates, to make it a viable alternative to fossil fuel-derived plastics.
The grant will support Ingenza as it aims to build a commercially viable P. putida bio-manufacturing pipeline. The organism has the potential to become an ideal host for the large-scale production of biobased methacrylate, the company says, meeting the required performance criteria for organic product tolerance, productivity, operational robustness and feedstock conversion. The company will use the funding to engineer an optimised P. putida strain and create a scalable fermentation protocol. In parallel, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation plans to engineer a cell sorting protocol for the identification of superior cell performance, aiding the efforts of Ingenza’s researchers.
Dr Ian Fotheringham, MD at Ingenza, said: “This recognition and support from Innovate UK, NEDO and Eureka is vital for funding our goal of making large-scale, sustainable bio-manufacturing processes a true alternative to conventional fossil fuels. The development of a commercially attractive, large-scale production pathway for methyl methacrylate could be a game changer for the future of synthetic materials.”