“Building on its biotech expertise and innovation via its ALTANØØV platform, particularly in relation to amino acid production pathways, METabolic Explorer [METEX] has developed a proprietary bacterial strain for the production of L-Valine by fermentation. The fermentation process, validated at pre-pilot scale, indicates that the strain is significantly more competitive compared with current technologies.”
The company added that a purification process, which is being developed in parallel, aims to obtain a functional ingredient rich in L-Valine, to enhance the product range offered by its subsidiary, METEX NØØVISTAGO, which is focused on the production and marketing of amino acids (AAs) produced by fermentation.
“This differentiating ingredient is part of the development of functional and innovative solutions to meet the challenges of animal nutrition, such as animal health and well-being, reduction in the use of soy proteins in the manufacture of animal feed and lowering of the carbon footprint of meat production.”
Functional amino acids, according to work done by METEX NØØVISTAGO, can regulate key metabolic pathways to improve animal health, survival, growth, development, lactation, and reproduction, they represent the exploitation of AAs beyond their use as protein building blocks.
Benjamin Gonzalez, CEO of the METabolic EXplorer Group (METEX), said this L-Valine technology demonstrates the soundness of its decision to acquire Ajinomoto Animal Nutrition Europe (AANE) earlier this year.
Less than nine months after the takeover, he said the teams’ synergies are being harnessed to boost competitiveness, facilitate the transfer of technological innovations to industrial scale and contribute to bringing new animal nutrition products to market as soon as possible.
“These are all key factors in [METEX] becoming the European leader in the production by fermentation of functional ingredients for [the] animal nutrition, cosmetics and biopolymer [sectors].”
The first half of 2022 will see METEX NØØVISTAGO begin manufacturing the product batches that are required for an EU approval application submission in relation to the L-Valine technology, currently in development.
L-Valine is an essential amino acid for animal nutrition and has been produced by METEX NØØVISTAGO since 2009, under an exclusive license from Ajinomoto Inc for EMEA.
The global feed grade valine market is estimated to reach US$80.86m by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% between 2019 and 2027.
