UK Marine Bt Strategy Project a review

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UK Marine Bt StrategyProject - a review

• Biotechnology Strengths of the South West
• Exeter 1st March 2005
• Meredith Lloyd-Evans, BioBridge working with NERC

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Markets for marine bioresources

• foods
• nutraceuticals
• medicine
• health technology
• cosmetics
• research tools
• agricultural inputs

• industrial inputs
• processing technologies
• new energy sources
• food safety
• environmental management

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Potentially-accessible markets for UK
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Background to Strategy Project

• Activities in Japan, USA, Australia, Germany,
  France
• October 2001 workshop - UK SWOT
• Scottish Marine Science report Oct 2001 proposal
  for ECMB Dunstaffnage
• Dec 2001 ESF Marine Biotechnology report
• Perceived need for a platform document for
  further strategic planning

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Weaknesses

• Lack of UK co-ordinated framework
• fragmented, small-group research community
• few large-scale international collaborations
• academic vs. commercial value-perceptions
• slow research to applications flow
• low investment base in business ideas
• few companies of any size or momentum
• insufficient interest from industry
• no integrated training programmes

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Strengths

• NERC programmes (MBTP and MFMB)
• activity in marine actinomycetes, biofouling,
  cell-cell signalling, marine viruses
• coastal and shelf sciences
• culture collections
• Faraday Partnerships and Knowledge Transfer
  Networks
• South West strongly represented

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Research strengths in South West

• cell signalling
• chemistry
• estuarine and coastal shelf sciences
• genomics
• marine algae, plankton
• marine viruses

• human and animal disease processes and prevention
• adaptation of biosynthesis to on-shore conditions
• new organisms, halophiles and others
• disease and breed improvement, environmental
  monitoring
• environmental management, food safety
• novel enzymes and bioremediation

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The South-Wests contribution

• Plymouth contributed 21M to regions research
  income 02-03, c. 50 from PML MBA
• BioElf BEP active in promoting biotechnology
• Plymouth Marine Science Partnership PML, MBA,
  UP, NMA, FOS (inter-regional)
• Plymouth Marine Science Technology Park in
  planning stage - est. 30-50M required

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Opportunities

• exploitation-directed projects eg MFMB
• marine bioactives for diseases other than cancers
• exploit expertise in marine cell-to-cell
  signalling
• exploit positive public funding climate
• use KTN programme to found a network
• make better use of funding support programmes
  in the South-West Scotland
• Regional Venture Capital Funds/VCTs
• PMSP in Centres of Excellence context
• Plymouth Marine Science Technology Park

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Threats

• Overseas competition
• Funding priorities - balance between
  applied/exploitation and cutting-edge science
• Continued disregard by investment community

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Commercialisation to-date

• Actinomed, Newcastle culture collection,
  bioactives from novel marine actinomycetes
• Aquapharm Bio-Discovery, ECMB Dunstaffnage
  culture collection, bioactives for animal feeds,
  anti-oxidants for healthfoods and cosmeceuticals,
  antibiotic for MRSA
• BioDiversity, Enfield culture collection,
  bioactives not exclusively marine
• Carapacics, Belfast/Ayrshire added-value chitin,
  chitosans, collagen and biocomposites from prawn
  wastes
• Coastal Marine Biotechnologies, Plymouth water
  quality assays using freeze-dried shellfish
  embryos spin-out BioVault

• Integrin Advanced Biosystems, Barcaldine tests
  for shellfish toxins, cell culture methods for
  marine invertebrates and symbionts
• NCIMB, Aberdeen culture collection including
  marine bacteria, research and consultancy in
  microbiology
• Plymouth Marine Applications commercial arm of
  PML marine chlorophylls and carotenoids
• Remedios, Aberdeen land contamination sensors,
  remediation monitors using marine gene
• SAMS Research Services, Dunstaffnage manage
  CCAP culture collection of marine and freshwater
  algae and protozoa

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Value transfer

• Short- to mid-term opportunities
• marine biofilms and medical anti-fouling
• marine viruses
• enzymes for biocatalysis
• bioactives for infections (rather than cancers)
• added-value materials from raw material
  processing
• Mid- to longer-term
• marine bacteria and cell-to-cell signalling

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Making transfer happen

• create an inventory of resources at HEIs and
  institutes
• combine these to answer specific needs
• eg Chemistry and Analytics
• Bioprocessing and Scale-up
• Culture and screening expertise
• Pre-clinical testing
• evaluate potential of companies to contribute
  their service expertise

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Short- to mid-term strategy

• identify commercialisable outputs
• involve appropriate industries to exploit
• establish science-industry network
• undertake a resources review
• continue to build cross-discipline science
  community
• work on investment community
• raise profile of marine biotechnology with
  government
• take advantage of all possible opportunities in
  DTIs new approach to innovation

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Key Points

• Capitalise on strengths
• Plan for overcoming weaknesses
• Build capacity for taking opportunities
• Decide what is doable
• Focus and prioritise
• Build consensus and support for UK Marine Bt
  community

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Challenges

• Connect the research community
• Integrate needs of key players
• Communicate and understand the technology gaps
• Reach the diversity of end-use sectors
• Build and co-ordinate networks
• Build businesses based on marine bioresources