Debut Biotech Makes Entrance for Cell-free Biomanufacturing Facility

Debut Biotech aspires to be the next big biotech company, and the two-year-old company believes cell-free enzymes are the way to go. To prove it, the company obtained $22.6 million in series A funding on Thursday. According to CEO Joshua Britton in an interview with Fierce Biotech, the new funds will be used to help build a 26,000-square-foot facility in San Diego that is expected to open in March or April of next year.

In the city, Debut has a 5,000-square-foot research and development centre. According to Britton, Debut is focused on expanding biomanufacturing faster and generating components that aren’t available from standard cell-based fermentation. Using sustainable feedstocks instead of petrochemicals, for example, is one example, according to the corporation.

According to the company, this reduces the quantity of area, water, and non-sustainable inputs required. Common biomanufacturing processes, on the other hand, aren’t going away anytime soon. According to Britton, the series A, led by Material Impact, will assist Debut Biotech deliver on three major collaborations made in recent months as well as further partnerships in the pipeline.Britton said, “Traditional fermentation has a really good place in biomanufacturing. It’s a tool, right? And our cell-free biomanufacturing part of this is just another tool.” In late May, Debut signed a “multi-million dollar arrangement” with fine chemicals producer DIC for the next several years. Natural colour components for use in food, cosmetics, and health goods are part of the collaboration.

Debut’s platform was also used by Royal DSM to develop natural components for use in personal health, food, and lifestyle goods. The deal, which was announced in May, begins with a proof of concept for Debut’s cell-free technique. Furthermore, the business will collaborate with nonprofit Battelle to transform energy-dense plastic garbage into new, useable materials for the DARPA ReSource initiative, reducing the military’s dependency on waste transportation and burning.