Between the lines: Scottish successes lead biotech revolution

Scientific innovation is helping Scotland along the road to hitting its net zero targets

There is a lot to be done before Scotland achieves net zero by 2025, but small steps in the right direction are happening all of the time. note-0One of the biggest challenges will be making fundamental changes to the feedstocks on which many of the everyday products we use and consume rely – from detergents and cosmetics to clothing and plastics.

The businesses, academic institutions and public sector services involved in making that happen are collectively referred to as the “bioeconomy”.

Scotland is leading the UK’s efforts to create a more bio-based future, with dozens of companies involved in groundbreaking research and more than one-third of the UK’s bio-based activities taking place here. The refreshed National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology last year, announced at our annual conference, upped the targets for the economic impact to be achieved by the sector by 2025 from £900 million to £1.2 billion of combined turnover.

There have been some real recent success stories behind those headline figures. Green Bioactives – a biomanufacturer based at the Roslin Innovation Centre – received £2.6m in seed financing to grow its team and further develop its offering. MiAlgae expanded its commercial production site following the launch of its Omega-3 product, which is derived from whisky co-products. There are plenty other examples of Scottish companies making great strides forward in the bio-based field.

Mark Bustard is CEO of the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (Picture: Chris Watt Photography)

New funding is now available to help even more businesses interested in bio-based work to take their ideas closer to commercial reality. Innovate UK and Scottish Enterprise, with support from IBioIC and Forth Valley College, have made £7m available to help further develop Scotland’s bioeconomy, as part of the Launchpad programme..

Any consortia looking at biobased manufacturing challenges – with the exception of therapeutics, gene therapy, and pharmaceutical applications – can apply for two types of funding packages. Up to £100,000 is available for 100 per cent funded, SME-led projects, rising to up to £1m for collaborative R&D initiatives led by businesses in Scotland of any size, covering between 25 per cent and 70 per cent of the total value. IBioIC is proactively working with research groups to submit applications by the deadline of 13 December.

The funding is a welcome injection of strategic cash to grow the cluster we have – it’s now up to companies to seize that opportunity.