GUDP grants Enduro 800.000 EUR

Enduro Genetics, a synthetic biology leader enabling precision fermentation, is proud to announce that it has been awarded a €0.8 million grant from the Danish Green Development and Demonstration Program (GUDP). The funding will support the development and commercialization of Enduro Sense 3.0, which is a new and improved version of Enduro’s core technology Enduro Sense. The technology development is aimed at enabling cost-competitive, continuous fermentation for bulk food protein production.

With global demand for animal-derived proteins projected to grow by 30-50% by 2050, achieving sustainability in food protein production is critical. Precision fermentation, a process Denmark is globally recognized for, offers a pathway to mitigate the environmental impact of traditional protein production, which is associated with greenhouse gas emissions, land use expansion, and freshwater demand.

Enduro Sense 3.0 has already demonstrated the potential to increase production titer six-fold in lab-scale continuous fermentation of beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) using Bacillus subtilis. The technology uses synthetic biology to promote high performing cell variants that normally disappear during continuous production.

The new GUDP-backed project, named "ContiMilk," will focus on adapting ES 3.0 for driving up milk protein titers in yeast, a commercially relevant host for food protein production. The goal is to enable continuous fermentation of BLG at commercially competitive costs, marking a major step forward for the precision fermentation industry.

Dr. Peter Rugbjerg, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Enduro Genetics, expressed enthusiasm about the grant and its implications for the company and the industry:
"Achieving cost parity with traditional food protein production is central to broad adoption of precision fermentation, and continuous manufacturing is widely seen as an enabler gaining a lot of industry interest lately. Today, Enduro Sense is used for stabilizing batch-based production levels. With Enduro Sense 3.0, our clients will be able to drive up titers in continuous production. This GUDP grant allows us to take the next critical step in validating our technology for industrial-scale applications, positioning Denmark as a global leader in sustainable biosolutions."

The 37-month project will expand  Enduro Sense 3.0, porting the concept to yeast, using it to achieve a 2-3x increase in titer, and demonstrating industrially relevant continuous production of BLG. The techno-economic analysis accompanying these efforts will highlight the cost savings and market readiness of the technology.

The successful completion of the ContiMilk project will not only strengthen Enduro Genetics' position supporting precision fermentation markets but also pave the way for Denmark’s leadership in the global alternative protein revolution in the transition toward a greener future.