Sarcopenia, or the decline of skeletal muscle tissue with age, is one of the most important causes of functional decline, frailty and loss of independence in older adults leading to increased hospitalizations and mortality rates. There will be ~2Bn people over the age of 65 by 2050 representing the world's fastest growing age-group with a corresponding increase of 68% in the incidence of sarcopenia. However, as life expectancy continues to increase, older demographics are likely to play more significant roles in societies and economies. Adequate nutrition and targeted exercise remain the gold standard for the therapeutic treatment of sarcopenia. The annual cost to the NHS of treating age-related musculoskeletal decline is estimated at £5.7 billion (5% of net expenditure) and in the United States, sarcopenia has been estimated to have an economic burden related to health care expenditures of $18.5 billion per year. Commercially, the global sarcopenia treatments market size was estimated at $2.8 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $3.8 billion by 2028, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~4.7% during the forecast period. Bell & Loxton Innovations Ltd is addressing this growing health challenge by developing an easily digestible, sustainable plant-based food ingredient, that can be incorporated into normal food via fortification or as a standalone food supplement. The ability to digest various food groups decreases with age which is further compounded by the need to consume a greater amount of certain nutrient classes than a younger person to maintain health and strength. B&LI is a circular economy company which innovates through extracting high-value biorenewables from abundant agri-food waste streams to create active ingredients of therapeutic and nutritional value. Our plant-based product will be made available to seniors to contribute towards a healthy diet that supports mobility and strength and prolongs independent living thereby reducing the burden on the NHS and the wider care system.

Bell & Loxton Innovations is a highly innovative, circular-economy spin-out from a working farm in South Devon. Our consortium has recognised an opportunity to produce high-value biorenewable (HVB) materials from abundant agricultural and food-processing co-streams. Many co-streams such as oilseed presscake created during oil extraction and spent brewing yeast and grain are high in protein and are routinely discarded or used downstream in low-economic value applications. Proteins from different natural sources have unique compositions of amino acids both in prevalence and in terms of their sequence. Consequently, proteolysis of these biorenewable proteins will create unique distributions of smaller peptides that differ in size, amino acid compositions and sequence. This diversity enables different high-value market sectors to be catered for such as nutrition, personal care and pharmaceuticals as different peptides have different biological properties. Historically, bespoke peptides have been chemically synthesised at high cost from chemical/fossil fuel feedstocks. Identifying unique high-value biorenewable proteins and then producing tailored peptides and blends (hydrolysates) will enable a circular economy approach to supplying multiple industry sectors with a consequent benefit to the environment. Our consortium brings together the necessary parts for developing a successful and scalable 'green' chemicals business: Bell & Loxton Innovations with its strong farming, food and agricultural production experience, The Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) with its in-depth knowledge of waste and co-stream valorisation techniques, and Thomas Swan & Co Ltd as an established chemicals manufacturing business to enable scale-up production coupled with a mission to move to 100% biorenewable feedstocks. Continuing this project from a successful valorisation feasibility study conducted with the BDC, we will work with our route to market manufacturing partner, Thomas Swan, to develop a scalable and patentable process that controls the composition and molecular weight range of resulting peptide hydrolysates each with their own unique bioactivity and targeted to specific markets. To enable revenues within a reasonable timeframe, we will focus initially on personal care applications (skincare, haircare) where a high demand for such peptides already exists and is proportionally regulated.