Phytome Life Sciences has announced the preliminary results from its research collaboration with Inventronics and the University of Plymouth to develop commercial applications for AI-driven technologies in pharmaceutical agriculture.
The collaboration, initiated in November 2022, aims to revolutionise the production of high-value biotherapeutics in controlled-environment systems by leveraging the epigenetic impact of light and other environmental factors.
These results represent a significant breakthrough in the field of pharmaceutical agriculture. The research has shown that targeted wavelengths of light can selectively increase the productive biomass and yield of active pharmaceutical ingredients, paving the way for highly efficient cultivation strategies, real-time plant monitoring, and high-precision molecular outcomes, while minimising energy waste.
This will enable pharmaceutical and food cultivators to both enhance the quality and conformity of crops
- Dino Jakobi, Global Sales Manager, Horticulture at Inventronics
Additionally, the study explores the potential of morphological control to enable scalable and repeatable precision cultivation technologies.
"Our pharmaceutical agriculture program focuses on scalable, uniform, and reproducible production of high-value therapeutic molecules in a plant-based system. This is a critical requirement for the development of a standardised licenced botanical drug that can be prescribed and reimbursed at scale," said Dr Sebastian Vaughan, CEO of Phytome Life Sciences.
"We have demonstrated outstanding levels of batch conformity while showing we can use particular environmental interventions to increase plant biomass production by up to 500%, while independently increasing the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients by approximately 20%,” continued Vaughan.
Phytome's research emphasises the significance of epigenetic plant traits, offering promising strategies to exploit plant adaptation to changing environmental cues and ensure crop conformity, yield and quality.
By delivering precise environmental cues and monitoring plant requirements, environmental technologies will reduce energy consumption and eliminate excess inputs, maximising productivity and consistency of the cultivation system.
Combined with optimised plant cultivars, these technologies offer strategic differentiation and commercial opportunities in controlled-environment agriculture systems.
Vaughan added: “Building upon these preliminary findings, our research will continue to develop data-driven tools to optimise plant-environment interactions for optimised yield and reduced energy consumption. The ultimate goal of this research is to achieve scalable and reproducible production of specific plant-derived therapeutics, with implications for advanced medical drug research and development and the wider controlled-environment agriculture industry."
"The preliminary data from these trials at Phytome Life Sciences advanced cultivation R&D facilities suggests a significant unaddressed opportunity to develop scalable new luminaire technologies and lighting strategies" said Dino Jakobi, Global Sales Manager, Horticulture at Inventronics.
The collaboration between Phytome and the University of Plymouth is led by Head of Plant Research, Dr Hail Rihan. A globally recognised expert in the rapidly growing field of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) and plant tissue culture. Hail's research focuses on the commercial application of next generation LED technologies for intensive hydroponic culture of high value crops.
