Willow Biosciences, a firm engaged in industrial manufacturing of pure, consistent, and sustainable ingredients, has signed a new commercial licence and royalty agreement with Kalsec.
The US-based Kalsec is a global producer of natural taste and sensory ingredients, food protection solutions, colours, and hops ingredients for the food and beverage industry.
The agreement allows the use of Willow Biosciences’ technology to scale and manufacture a natural ingredient, which will be added to Kalsec’s portfolio for savoury food applications.
Willow Biosciences specialises in developing and producing precision-fermented functional ingredients for the health and wellness, food and beverage, and personal care markets.
The company offers large-scale production solutions using its FutureGrown and BioOxi platforms.
Willow Biosciences president and CEO Chris Savile said: “We are excited to see our technology platform continue to deliver with the transition of yet another research program to commercial reality.
“Beyond the commercial benefits to both Willow and Kalsec under this agreement, we are proud to be partnering with an ingredient leader like Kalsec to bring safer, more sustainable natural products to consumers.”
Under this commercial licence and royalty agreement, Willow Biosciences anticipates milestone payments for the initial pilot and industrial batches, followed by tiered royalty payments based on net worldwide sales post-launch.
Kalsec will handle all regulatory, manufacturing, sales, and marketing expenses.
The collaboration aims to introduce a natural ingredient that will enable Kalsec to capture the global market segment.
Willow Biosciences expects the research and development phase to conclude in 2024, with regulatory and scale-up efforts extending into 2025.
Kalsec chief innovation officer Roger Nahas said: “We remain strongly committed to the sustainability and innovation benefits of bioconversion to generate affordable, effective, and safe natural solutions to savoury foods’ toughest ingredient needs and challenges.”
In February, Willow Biosciences received an investment of $100,000 from Kalsec to commercialise and develop its pipeline of products.
Furthermore, in May, the ingredients maker signed a multi-product development and licensing partnership with Laurus Labs for manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Last month, Kalsec opened a new finishing and distribution centre in Merlin Park, Suffolk, UK.
