KBio, a developer of new biological treatments derived from a plant-based production system, and ZERO, an Italian agtech, announced a strategic alliance to build a plant-based molecular farming network. That includes therapeutic, pandemic preparedness, and bioactive ingredient production as well.
KBio and ZERO plan to design and build a portfolio of tailored end-to-end solutions aimed at leveraging KBio's expertise on N. benthamiana as a bioreactor in combination with ZERO's automated, modular, and contamination-free vertical plant growing setup.
Importantly, these solutions will have the flexibility to be rapidly deployed worldwide in emergency situations or to operate in large, centralized hubs capable of offering commercial supply and CDMO services to multi-sector customers.
"What makes KBio great in the plant-based production of biologics is that our platform allows for the development of highly pure proteins at a higher efficiency and lower cost compared to current technologies," said Patrick Doyle, chief executive officer at KBio.
"We plan to facilitate joint R&D activities with ZERO in the United States, UK, and Italy that will involve the production of monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and various bio-industrial products with B2B applications in the food, nutraceutical, cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors. We're excited to be collaborating with ZERO on leveraging each company's respective capabilities to develop plant-based solutions using a broad spectrum of modalities in a variety of spaces."
Daniele Modesto, CEO at ZERO, added, "With this strategic alliance, ZERO plans to integrate KBio's technologies in all of its commercial farms in Europe, GCC, SEA, and North America to enable an immediate response to pandemic emergencies with the rapid production of antibodies and vaccines. We look forward to working with KBio on utilizing our state-of-the-art vertical farming technology in combination with their plant-based platform to achieve our joint mission of rapidly developing new solutions to benefit people's lives on a global scale."
For more information:
ZERO
dm@zerofarms.it
www.zerofarms.it
KBio
www.kbio.com