AMBITIOUS SCOTTISH BIOTECH COMPANY CONFIRMS EXPANSION PLANS WITH OFFICIAL OPENING OF NEW PRODUCTION FACILITY
· Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands officially opens new facility in Lockerbie
· Scale-up of pioneering natural food colourant production moves into important phase
12 November 2019: ScotBio, a fast growing Scottish biotech business making a natural blue colourant, has officially opened a new production facility in Lockerbie in the south of Scotland and confirmed ambitious plans to expand further.
The new facility, which complements its existing R&D and head office facility at BioCity outside Glasgow and which plays a key role in the business’s scaling up programme, was officially opened by Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands today 12 November 2019.
Over the past 4 months ScotBio has successfully tested its pioneering method for producing its natural food colourant in a 50,000 litre production tank at the Lockerbie facility. Production capacity will increase further over the next 12 months with the addition of several more of the 50,000 litre vessels in operation at the site. The company is also looking at a number of additional sites in Europe, the US and the Far East as part of its longer term growth plans.
Polly Van Alstyne, Chief Operating Officer at ScotBio said: “This is a key stage in our stated business plan. A move to a larger facility was essential to allow us to increase production levels significantly and, importantly, to allow us to closely monitor the outcomes in a phased manner. The new facility in Lockerbie provides us with the space to do that and the ability to expand even further.
“Product development and R&D is continuing apace at our headquarters at BioCity and we are speaking with food manufacturers across the world who are keen to know more about the production of our phycocyanin and other functional food ingredients, and our plans for scaling up production levels.”
Tom Craig, Chairman of ScotBio said: “The board and staff are continuing to deliver the milestones set out in the company’s business plan. This latest scale-up phase is essential as we look to build capacity, while identifying any challenges that the increase in production may produce. We also have an outstanding team of scientists who are working on additional proprietary IP to bring added value to the business.”
In February 2019, ScotBio appointed two former senior directors of Robert Wiseman Dairies PLC to its board. Martyn Mulcahy and David Dobbins held positions of Group Operations Director and Group Commercial Director and are advising ScotBio on scaling up production and commercialising the company’s products.
The oversubscribed £2m funding round in November 2018 saw investment syndicate Kelvin Capital, Investing Women, Oghma Partners and private investors in the UK, the USA and Ireland joined by Sorbon Investments.
Based in BioCity Glasgow, the biotech incubator located just outside Glasgow, ScotBio has developed a patented, vessel-based process to respond to worldwide demand for ‘clean labels’ and products free of artificial colours by providing FMCG’s with traceable, natural blue and green colourants.
Natural blues and greens are produced using phycocyanin, also known as spirulina extract, an algae derived pigment which received international regulatory approval in 2013. Phycocyanin rich algae is traditionally grown in pond systems, which are seasonal and subject to environmental contamination but ScotBio has developed indoor vessel-based systems that are modular and scalable and capable of meeting the demand from global food manufacturers.
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Issued on behalf of ScotBio by Wave PR Ltd. For further information please contact Jonathan Kennedy on 0141-225-0400 or at jonathan@wavepr.co.uk
Notes to editors
Kelvin Capital Ltd. (Lead Investor) is a Scottish based, private investment syndicate, with over 200 investors and a diverse portfolio of 23 investee companies having made investments of over £25 million to date.
Investing Women is Scotland’s only all-female business angel group and a dynamic and growing community of women angel investors and entrepreneurs. The group’s CEO and founder is Jackie Waring, an accomplished businesswoman who has advised the UK Government on encouraging and supporting female entrepreneurialism. Jackie was also the UK’s first Advisory Board Member to the Global Banking Alliance for Women, based in Washington DC.
Oghma Partners LLP is a Food & Beverage focused corporate finance boutique. Established in 2008 by former Goldman Sachs and Citigroup bankers Mark Lynch and Tim Owen, the business focuses on providing corporate finance advice to businesses that operate across the EMEA region. Aside from ‘plain vanilla’ Food & Beverage deals, Oghma also focuses on the ingredients sector and has completed a series of deals involving counterparties such as Cargill, Kerry Group, Ornua, DSM and Solina. Oghma Partners offices are based in Mayfair, London where the 10 person multi-lingual team is located. The team is supplemented by an associate network of counterparties spread across Europe, the Americas and Asia.