A biotech start-up has relocated to Norwich Research Park to continue work on its successful anti-bug products.
BugBiome is developing new bioinsecticides from crop microbes (tiny living organisms).
This year the company is concentrating on field trials for its lead pesticide product, and this move will bring it closer to its greenhouses.
Norwich Research Park is one of Europe’s largest research bases for food, genomics and health.
BugBiome is based at the John Innes Centre there, giving it direct access to world-leading expertise.
The company’s discovery engine AvidX helped develop its lead product, which targets aphids – a major agricultural pest – and has shown promising results in greenhouse trials on sugar beet and oilseed rape.
Recent investment by European venture capitalists Rockstart and Biotope will help support its latest work on field validation.
Other backers include Cambridge Angles, Discovery Park Ventures, IndieBio/SOSV, and AgLaunch.
Proceeds from the ongoing fundraising round will also support development and commercialisation of the lead biopesticide, as well as follow-up products targeting major crop pests like beetles, weevils and lepidoptera.
Dr Alicia Showering, CEO of BugBiome, said: “‘Demonstrating field efficacy of our aphid product is a critical milestone for commercialisation and partnering, and the environment here will enable us to accelerate not only this product but also the broader portfolio of new bioinsecticide solutions farmers urgently need.
“This move to Norwich Research Park places us in the heart of the UK’s agritech community. Our relocation and integration have proceeded smoothly and we are delighted to enter this next phase of our development here.”
Roz Bird, CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership, the campus management organisation for Norwich Research Park, added: “We are delighted to welcome BugBiome to our campus, adding another highly innovative agri-biotech start-up company to our community.
“Over the last three years, we have developed a successful ecosystem and incubator programme to support spinouts, spin-ins and start-ups as they establish themselves and grow.
“Agri-biotech along with food biotech, industrial biotech and medtech are the sectors where we have an enormous amount of experience, expertise and state-of-the-art-facilities to nurture both the research and subsequent commercialisation.
“We are looking forward to supporting BugBiome’s next phase of development and helping it to achieve its business ambitions.”
