Two years after its creation by Danone S.A. (Paris), Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin SCA (Clermont-Ferrand, France), DMC Biotechnologies Inc. (Boulder, Colo.), Crédit Agricole Centre France (Clermont-Ferrand, France), Clermont Auvergne Innovation S.A.S. (Aubière, France) and Greentech S.A. (Saint-Beauzire, France), Biotech Open Platform (Clermont-Ferrand, France) inaugurates its industrial biotechnology platform and welcomes its first advanced fermentation projects. The platform is located at the Sustainable Materials Center within Michelin’s Innovation Park–Cataroux in Clermont-Ferrand.
With more than €20 million invested in its first phase and fermentation capacities of up to 15 m³, the platform addresses a key biotechnology challenge: bridging the gap between laboratory development and industrial-scale production. Open to startups, industrial companies and R&D organizations, Biotech Open Platform supports the scale-up of biotechnology innovations and contributes to strengthening European industrial competitiveness.
Every year, numerous biotechnology innovations demonstrate promising results in the laboratory. Yet many of them never progress beyond that stage. Between proof of concept and industrial deployment lies a critical step: scale-up. Biotech Open Platform was created specifically to address this challenge.
The platform supports startups, industrial companies and R&D organizations in developing, optimizing, scaling up and validating fermentation-based processes, from laboratory scale to conditions representative of industrial production. To achieve this, the platform offers integrated fermentation, purification and bioprocess development capabilities, including a complete fermentation line with a capacity of up to 15 m³ and semi-industrial purification systems, which remain rare in Europe. All of these capabilities meet the most stringent standards, particularly those applicable to food production.
Beyond technical process validation, the platform enables the production of sufficient volumes to conduct application testing and support the validation stages prior to commercial production.
As the availability and sustainability of certain fossil-based ingredients and resources come under increasing scrutiny, industrial biotechnology and advanced fermentation processes are opening up new opportunities to produce molecules, ingredients and materials from renewable resources.
Advanced fermentation, of which precision fermentation is one of the main technology approaches, uses microorganisms such as yeasts, bacteria, microalgae and fungi as true “microfactories” capable of producing molecules of interest to industry. These technologies can produce proteins, enzymes, food ingredients, cosmetic actives and bio-based materials for sectors as diverse as food and beverages, cosmetics, agriculture, chemicals and biomaterials. Recent industrial-scale fermentation campaigns show how quickly the field is advancing.
Biotech Open Platform is designed to support a broad range of companies facing the same industrial scale-up challenges, well beyond its founding companies. This openness is one of the project’s founding principles.
Biotech Open Platform is built on a strong conviction: major scientific, industrial and environmental challenges require new forms of collaboration. It was born from a joint initiative by Danone, Michelin, DMC Biotechnologies, Crédit Agricole Centre France, Clermont Auvergne Innovation and Greentech to jointly create an open industrial platform. With its own dedicated teams and infrastructure, Biotech Open Platform ensures strict project confidentiality and the protection of intellectual property. The project has also benefited from the support of the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), managed by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, as well as from Clermont Auvergne Métropole.
Against a backdrop of growing international competition, the platform aims to strengthen the European industrial capabilities needed to foster the development of new value chains based on renewable resources and to turn scientific innovations into tangible industrial solutions.