ByBug: black soldier flies can deliver cheaper, more scalable recombinant protein production

Por Agroempresario.com

ByBug, a Chilean startup, has successfully raised a $1.4 million seed round, enabling it to further develop its platform for producing recombinant proteins from genetically engineered black soldier flies. This innovative approach, according to the company, offers a cheaper and more scalable alternative to using engineered microbes via precision fermentation. The funding round, supported by Südlich Capital, Arpegio VC, GRIDX, Halcyon Venture Partners, and Atento Capital, will help the startup expand its R&D efforts and prepare for commercial operations in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as cofounder José del Solar explained to AgFunderNews.

Del Solar stated that ByBug currently operates an R&D center in Chile, which includes a semi-industrial BSF rearing plant and a molecular biology laboratory for testing downstream processes at a laboratory scale. Additionally, the company has established a commercial office in Tulsa and plans to implement an industrial pilot plant and a recombinant protein purification facility in the next funding round.

The economics of recombinant protein production

Del Solar highlighted the economic advantages of using black soldier flies (BSF) for recombinant protein production compared to precision fermentation. He mentioned that the upstream cost of BSF is 10 to 20 times cheaper, owing to lower feedstock costs (BSF larvae feed on agricultural byproducts instead of purified sugars), lower capital expenditure (capex) costs, and lower labor costs. The maintenance cost of BSF is also lower than that of microbes, and scaling up BSF biomass is easier since they are reared in trays, making laboratory batches similar to industrial production.

Del Solar noted that the global production capacity of BSF is at least 100 times greater than the current capacity of precision fermenters, demonstrating the high scalability of this technology. Besides the cost benefits, insects are better equipped to produce certain high-value proteins than microbes, as they can perform post-translational modifications that microbes cannot, making them suitable for sectors such as human and animal pharmaceuticals.

Advantages of black soldier flies

Although several insects can express recombinant proteins, del Solar pointed out that black soldier flies do not carry diseases or act as pathogens for agriculture or humans. They also produce more protein per gram of biomass than fruit flies, which are used by AgFunder portfolio company Future Fields to make growth factors and biopharmaceuticals. Black soldier flies also have greater tolerance and resistance to biotic and abiotic factors.

On a practical level, del Solar mentioned that the infrastructure for intensive and automated rearing of BSF already exists, making large-scale production feasible. He compared ByBug’s approach to other companies like BugEra and FreezeM, which enhance the natural characteristics of BSF through genetic engineering, and Flybast and Entozyme, which use BSF to produce growth factors and enzymes, respectively. ByBug differentiates itself through its genetic editing platform, allowing it to obtain strains in half the time of the current standard. The company has two patent applications: one for its BSF strain transportation system and another for its genetic editing methodology for insects.

Product pçipeline

ByBug plans to produce two types of products: high-protein insect flour containing recombinant proteins, which eliminates the need for purification and significantly reduces production costs, and purified recombinant proteins. Del Solar mentioned that a scalable downstream processing and purification process for purified recombinant proteins is still being developed, which is one of the goals of their seed round.

Byproducts from this process, such as high-protein biomass (for animal feed), insect frass (as fertilizer), and fatty acids (for cosmetics), could also be monetized. In the segment of unpurified proteins, ByBug is working on an immunostimulant for fish developed by Aquit, which reduces antibiotic use in aquaculture. For purified proteins, the company is developing a platform for producing therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for animals and offers recombinant protein production services for various clients worldwide, though details remain confidential due to nondisclosure agreements.