The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has granted contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), ScaleUp Bio, a food manufacturing licence for its commercial pilot production facility.
ScaleUp Bio said the lab will focus on submerged microbial and precision fermentation services at a scale of up to 10,000 litres and associated downstream processing capacity.
ScaleUp Bio CEO, Francisco Codoñer, said it was a major milestone, and made the company one only a few CDMOs approved as food manufacturing facilities.
“If you are a global food tech start-up in need of pilot-scale manufacturing, we invite you to engage with us. ScaleUp Bio’s value proposition offers anyone with the next best concept in food to bring that idea to reality, and to pilot stage commercial production in Singapore, backed by a blue-chip corporate ecosystem of support,” Codoñer said.
ScaleUp Bio is a joint venture between global nutrition company ADM and Singapore investment firm Temasek’s Asia Sustainable Foods Platform.
Codoñer said the SFA food manufacturing license was the culmination of a year and a half’s effort in building out Singapore’s “pioneer, dedicated food-grade pilot-stage food production facility”.
The plant is 2266 square metres and located in Tuas on the western side of Singapore island.
ScaleUp Bio’s Fermentation Joint Lab
The commercial pilot production facility complements ScaleUp Bio’s Fermentation Joint Lab, run with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)’s Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation.
The Fermentation Joint lab is housed in Nurasa’s Food Tech Innovation Centre (FTIC). Nurasa is wholly owned by Temasek and one of ScaleUp Bio’s corporate parents. It enables food innovators to bring an idea to life, offering start-ups up to 100 litres of fermentation capacity in a dedicated food grade, scientific research laboratory.
Codoñer said food tech start-ups will also benefit from ADM’s nutrition and innovation expertise.
ADM president Asia-Pacific, Gary McGuigan, said ADM is looking forward to collectively work towards a more sustainable food system.
Codoñer said, “ScaleUp Bio’s two facilities represent a pioneering initiative for Singapore and globally. From R&D to pilot scale, our fermentation expertise ensures excellence.
“Transitioning from bench to market? Our collaborative ecosystem, including parent and sister companies, research institutions, and industry partners, offers guidance.
“Seeking funding? We tap into our parent companies’ extensive corporate network, ADM and Nurasa.”
