Biomanufacturing specialist Amyris is to acquire sweet protein maker Oobli for an undisclosed sum in a move that will pair Oobli’s protein production platform and portfolio with Amyris’ strain engineering and biomanufacturing capabilities. The acquisition is expected to close in the coming weeks.
Synthetic biology pioneer Amyris—which emerged from bankruptcy with a revised business model in May 2024 after a turbulent few years—has over 20 years’ experience in taking ingredients developed in-house or by others from the lab to industrial scale, CEO Kathy Fortmann told AgFunderNews.
Having exited consumer brands to focus on B2B operations, Amyris now offers partners services ranging from strain engineering and process development to manufacturing and technology licensing, while also developing proprietary ingredients in-house.
Oobli, meanwhile, has developed a portfolio of sweet proteins through precision fermentation, along with expertise in formulating them into food and beverage products to reduce sugar. Founded in 2014 as Miraculex with an initial focus on the taste-modifying protein miraculin, it later changed its name to Joywell Foods and broadened its aperture to explore multiple sweet proteins made via fermentation. It rebranded to Oobli in December 2022.
“We had explored ways of working together, and this just seemed to be the best fit to really accelerate both on the technology side, on the manufacturing side, and on the commercial side,” explained Fortmann.
“We were producing [high-intensity sweetener] Reb M [via precision fermentation] as part of our agreement with Ingredion, so we’re thrilled to have sweetness back in our portfolio, given the need to reduce sugar in so many foods. What blew me away was the applications work Oobli has done. We had to keep asking, ‘Are you sure it’s 70% reduced sugar?’ It has such a clean taste.”
She added: “We’ve been looking at proteins in flavor and fragrance, personal care and at ag peptides, so Oobli is an extremely good strategic fit for where we are heading at Amyris.”
“Joining forces with Amyris gives us the scale and resources to realize our ambition of making sweet proteins the global standard in sweetness solutions.” Ali Wing, CEO, Oobli
Synergies in R&D, manufacturing and commercialization
Oobli’s sweet proteins (brazzein, monellin, and thaumatin) are all FEMA GRAS affirmed for use as natural flavors, while brazzein and monellin are also FDA GRAS as sweeteners, with an FDA GRAS no-questions letter for thaumatin “expected soon,” said Fortmann.
Production is likely to remain with a contract manufacturer that Oobli has been working with for the time being, said Fortmann, who said there are no immediate plans to bring production in-house to Amyris’ production facility in Brazil. “Our intention right now is to stay with the current manufacturing as it scales.”
This is consistent with Amyris’ more flexible post-bankruptcy business model. As Fortmann previously explained to AgFunderNews, the company no longer insists on manufacturing every ingredient it helps develop, instead offering partners options ranging from strain engineering and process development to technology licensing and royalties, while selectively deploying its own manufacturing capacity in Brazil.
On the R&D front, she said, “There are clear synergies. Our labs are very extensive in Emeryville, and I know that a few of the people I’ve talked to [at Oobli] during due diligence can’t wait to get into our labs. It’s not just about strain development, but because of our experience in scaling to commercial scale.”
Asked about which team members from Oobli would be joining Amyris, Fortmann said: “The Oobli team will come in to [Amyris’ HQ in] Emeryville on Friday and then there’ll be a discussion as to who wants to be part of the Amyris team.”
While Oobli has a chocolate product to showcase its sweet proteins in a real-world application, its focus is B2B ingredients, with select products already on the market with partners and an “impressive pipeline,” claimed Fortmann.
“The chocolate has really been used as a marketing tool, as a demonstration of what’s feasible, but the primary core of their business is actually like Amyris’ business: b2b. I’ve been in the food ingredient space for quite a long time and I’m impressed with what they’ve achieved.”
The core focus is on beverages, sports nutrition, dairy, chocolate, bakery, and confectionery.
The promise of sweet proteins
While stevia and monk fruit sweeteners have improved significantly as firms have homed in on the more sugar-like steviol glycosides such as Reb M, sweet proteins add an exciting new dimension to the sugar-reduction toolbox, said Amyris.
“Sweet proteins are hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than sugar, bind directly to sweet taste receptors, and are metabolized by the body as protein, delivering sweetness without gut disruption or blood sugar spikes.”
Brazzein—one of the best-known sweet proteins—is found in tiny quantities in oubli fruit, which makes it prohibitively expensive to extract. Instead, Oobli is producing the same protein in fermentation tanks via a genetically engineered strain of yeast. However, as no modified genetic material from the production organism is detectable in the final product, it does not trigger a ‘bioengineered’ label in the US.
As the protein is chemically identical to the protein found in the fruit, the company is listing it as ‘oubli fruit sweet protein’ on the ingredients list.
Further reading:
Amyris CEO on the post-bankruptcy re-boot: ‘We’re a drastically different company’
Latam sugar giant Magdalena plans 650,000-L precision fermentation facility in Guatemala
‘No acceptable offers’ for Liberation Bioindustries as firm seeks to plug $25m funding gap
Sweet protein: Pentasweet breaks ground on $76m precision fermentation facility for brazzein
