Green Bioactives, founded in 2019, is scaling and commercialising natural products made using a patent-protected plant cell culture-based biomanufacturing platform. This innovative platform enables the production of high-value bioactive ingredients for the cosmetics and personal care industries at yields that competitors cannot readily achieve. These bioactives are traditionally sourced from plants that are often rare, undomesticated, and/or grown in remote locations. Traditional harvesting methods face challenges such as seasonal availability, environmental degradation, disease, and geopolitical instability, leading to unreliable supply chains and limited scalability. The project brings together Green Bioactives and scientists from the University of Edinburgh and its EdinOmics research facility to develop a next-generation approach to improved biomanufacturing. The collaboration focuses on integrating advanced real-time metabolomic (RTmet) monitoring and control technologies into Green Bioactives' scalable plant cell culture platform. This adaptation will enable a transition from small-scale processes to larger scale biomanufacturing, delivering a value proposition that includes higher productivity, improved batch-to-batch consistency and uniform product quality. The project will demonstrate the viability of plant cell culture for the sustainable biomanufacturing of bioactive ingredients used in cosmetics and personal care formulations. By replacing traditional plant harvesting methods with bioreactor-based production, Green Bioactives aims to offer a UK-based, environmentally friendly, stable and scalable alternative that meets growing consumer demand for sustainable and ethically sourced products. The collaboration will also expand the scope of real-time monitoring technologies, historically applied to microbial fermentation, into the realm of plant-based biotechnologies. The resulting innovations will strengthen the Scottish industrial biotechnology cluster, create skilled jobs, and enhance the UK's capacity for sustainable manufacturing. The insights and technologies developed through the project have the potential to extend beyond cosmetics into industries such as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, demonstrating the broad applicability and long-term impact of Green Bioactives' innovative plant cell culture platform.

Plants are nature's premier chemists, able to synthesise a plethora of natural products that are both critical to their own life cycle and which have been utilised across diverse industrial sectors including the pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and agricultural industries. However, accessing these plant-derived plant products can be difficult. The yield of these natural products is typically low and is limited by the plant species' population. Due to their complexity, chemical synthesis of these biomolecules is routinely not economically viable or sustainable. Typically, the details of the associated biochemical pathways are either unknown or highly complex, routinely precluding the transfer of these pathways into microbial hosts for their production using synthetic biology approaches. Therefore, producing sufficient quantities of these natural biomolecules to meet rapidly growing public demand can be problematic. Green Bioactives Ltd (GBL) is developing proprietary sustainable biomanufacturing platforms using plant stem cells isolated from the given target plant. These stem cells are subsequently cultured in liquid media at scale in large bioreactors to produce the desired natural product. This approach safeguards protected plant species from depletion and reduces the associated carbon footprint relative to other production processes, as determined by life cycle analysis (LCA) studies. In this project, GBL is utilising its proprietary biomanufacturing platform to produce a natural skin-whitening molecule. This approach aligns with burgeoning demand within the cosmetics industry for safe, natural alternatives to conventional skin lightening agents, which are often criticised for their potential health risks and environmental impact. The target molecule for this project is derived from a plant known for its potent skin-lightening properties, addressing a market that is increasingly wary of synthetic additives and values sustainability and safety. By leveraging its proprietary technology, GBL aims to offer a revolutionary product that not only meets the cosmetic industry's stringent standards for efficacy and safety but also resonates with the modern consumer's preference for natural and ethically produced goods. This venture into the cosmetic sector represents a significant expansion of GBL’s portfolio, promising to position the company as a key player in the natural cosmetics market. The move is supported by a strategic partnership with a leading cosmetic brand known for its commitment to natural and sustainable beauty products. This collaboration will ensure that the newly developed skin whitening molecule is formulated, distributed, and marketed effectively, targeting key markets in the UK and Europe. The project underscores our commitment to innovation, sustainability, and meeting the evolving needs of consumers in the cosmetic industry, offering a natural, safe, and effective alternative to traditional skin whitening agents.

Green Bioactives, a University of Edinburgh start-up, have developed innovative strategies to produce plant-derived natural products utilising plant cell culture with full freedom to operate. These technologies can significantly improve the yields of target natural products in cultured plant cells. This technology platform can be employed to produce high quality natural product ingredients for the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, food and agricultural industries. An ICURe funding award to Green Bioactives provided invaluable market intelligence. Green Bioactives is currently engaged with leading companies to provide natural product ingredients for their respective product ranges.