Danone-Backed Biotech Open Platform Opens Industrial Facility
Biotech Open Platform has inaugurated the facility in Clermont-Ferrand as part of a project to connect laboratory research with production conditions used at industrial scale. The investment included financial support from the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund.
The project was established two years ago and designed jointly by Danone, Michelin, DMC Biotechnologies, Crédit Agricole Centre France, Clermont Auvergne Innovation and Greentech. The partners created the platform for use by startups, industrial businesses and research-and-development organisations.
Users will be able to develop, improve, enlarge and validate processes based on fermentation. The platform is intended to support work as it progresses from laboratory equipment to settings that replicate the requirements of industrial manufacturing.
Its equipment includes a full fermentation line capable of handling up to 15 cubic metres. The site also has semi-industrial purification systems designed to comply with food-safety requirements.
Khadidja Romari, the platform’s chief executive, said that infrastructure and machinery were not sufficient on their own for scale-up. She cited the need for practical experience, technical expertise and solutions to problems that emerge when a process is transferred between scales. She also said that confidentiality and intellectual-property protection were important to participating companies, adding that the platform would help them progress towards industrialisation “faster and more securely”.
The project has been presented against increased international competition in biotechnology. Danone said that developing and scaling such innovations in Europe could support the competitiveness of European industry. The company also said the partnership model would contribute to new value chains based on renewable resources across the continent.
Antoine de Saint-Affrique, Danone’s chief executive, described the facility as a link in Europe’s biotechnology ecosystem and said it would accelerate the industrial scale-up of laboratory innovations. He also pointed to shared infrastructure and long-term partnerships as elements that could enhance European competitiveness.
