Biotalys, an Agricultural Technology (AgTech) company protecting crops and food with protein-based biocontrol solutions, and Olon, a world-leading contract development and manufacturing organization, announced a long-term strategic partnership for the manufacturing of Biotalys’ biocontrol products. The partnership is driven by the common vision of transforming food protection with unique protein-based biocontrol solutions and secures the global supply of Biotalys’ Evoca™*, the first protein-based biocontrol in the Biotalys pipeline, aims to provide fruit and vegetable growers with a new rotation partner in integrated pest management (IPM) programs. It helps control diseases thus reducing the dependency on chemical pesticides with corresponding residues in harvested produce while offering a distinctive new tool to manage pathogen resistance development.
Under the partnership, Olon will produce the active ingredient of Evoca at its world-class biotech manufacturing sites in Capua and Settimo Torinese (Italy), two centers of excellence in the microbial fermentation field meeting the highest quality standards. Relying on experience gained over more than 50 years, Olon’s expertise includes extensive know-how of microbial fermentation, one of the most eco-friendly and sustainable technologies capable of significantly reducing the overall environmental impact.
In Capua, Olon’s fermentation facility operates a range of bioreactors of up to 35m³, while the facility in Settimo Torinese envisages production in batches of up to 112m³ – far above the capacity reached until now for Biotalys‘ products. This upscaling therefore signifies a major step forward in terms of production efficiency and scalability of protein-based biocontrols.
“Biotalys’ protein-based biocontrols are a promising new class of products to help growers protect their crops in an environmentally sustainable way,” said Paolo Tubertini, CEO of Olon. “They perfectly match with our long-term plan that focuses on novel biotech solutions and, consequently, the expansion of our capacity to support innovative biotech companies to accelerate the development of new products in a more sustainable way. According to this strategy we offer one the biggest platform of microbial fermentation production globally. It means the application of sustainable biotechnology to industrialization.”