Mario Bonaccorso Assobiotec

The Role of Industrial Biotechnology in Boosting

the Italian Bioeconomy

IEA BioEnergy- Sassari, 5 May 2015

Assobiotec: who we are

Created in 1986 within Federchimica, Assobiotec is the Italian Association for the development of Biotechnology and represents today:

More than 140 Associates

Our Associates are companies and science parks involved in research, development, testing, manufacturing and commercialization of biotechnology applications

www.assobiotec.it

AGENDA

Is Italy doing well in the Biotech Sector?

Bioeconomy in Italy and in EU

Bioeconomy or Bio(t)economy?

Conclusions

Is Italy doing well

in the Biotech

Sector?

Number of companies

The Italian Biotech Sector

Source: Ernst & Young – Assobiotec, BioInItaly Report 2014

Companies

R&D employees

Biotech turnover

R&D investments

422

6.626

7,050 mln €

1,517 mln €

Total

264

2.457

1,490 mln €

438 mln €

Pure Biotech

International Benchmarking

Source: Ernst & Young – Assobiotec, BioInItaly Report 2014

Italy is third in Europe in terms of pure biotech companies

Small and Micro Companies are the Majority

Source: Ernst & Young – Assobiotec, BioInItaly Report 2014

Total biotech companies Pure biotech companies

Geographic Distribution Total Biotech Companies

Biotech companies are mainly concentrated in Northern and Central Italy

Lombardy is the region with the highest number of biotech companies (127)

Source: Ernst & Young – Assobiotec, BioInItaly Report 2014

Analysis by Application Field

Comparison between years 2012 and 2013

Source: Ernst & Young – Assobiotec, BioInItaly Report 2014

WHITE and GREEN Biotech

Source: Ernst & Young – Assobiotec, BioInItaly Report 2014

Companies

R&D employees

Biotech turnover

R&D investments

Green

94

843

147 mln €

106 mln €

66

506

78 mln €

48 mln €

Total Pure Biotech

Companies

R&D employees

Biotech turnover

R&D investments

69

567

241 mln €

29 mln €

41

535

238 mln €

24 mln €

White

Bioeconomy in Italy

and EU

12

Production value: 1200 billion euro in EU5…

Production value of bioeconomy in Europe

(Million euro, 2011)

Source: our estimates on Eurostat data

Italy Germany France UK Spain EU5

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery of which: 52,419 50,760 86,409 30,310 45,747 265,644

Agriculture 49,618 45,730 78,813 27,162 n.d. n.d.

Forestry 690.7 4,560 5,475 1,574 n.d. n.d.

Fishery 2,110 470 2,121 1,574 n.d. n.d.

Food 123,165 171,370 154,185 89,372 105,051 643,143

Wood 17,369 22,740 10,709 7,401 7,108 65,327

Paper and pulp 24,207 39,550 17,803 13,603 14,682 109,846

Bio-chemicals 19,796 56,154 28,854 13,696 13,608 132,107

Bio-economy 241,311 330,484 295,366 154,986 186,617 1,208,765

13

…with a important contribution of agro-food industry in

Spain, France and Italy

Bio-economy weight on total production (%, 2011)

Source: our estimates on Eurostat data

0,4

0,8

0,6 0,8

0,5

0,8

0,44

0,92

0,74 0,76

0,72

0,74

0,0

2,0

4,0

6,0

8,0

10,0

12,0

UK Germany EU5 Italy France Spain

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery Food

Wood Paper and pulp

Bio-chemicals

4,8

6,6 7,1

7,6 8,1

9,8

Bioeconomy or

Bio(t)economy?

Industrial Biotechnology

Industrial biotechnology has been recognized

as a key enabling technology to address the

challenges we are facing today

Bioeconomy companies revolve entirely

around industrial biotechnology. Focus is the

development of processes and products from

renewable resources.

Global challenges and role of biotech

Increase of world population (9 billion by 2050 with

+70% of food demand)

Food safety and food security; functional food, new

drugs

Post-petroleum society

Energy from renewable sources and bioproducts

Climate change

Biotech crops (water-savings)

Environmental pollution

Bioremediation (microorganisms, bacteria, etc.)

Italy as cradle of the new Industrial Renaissance

Design for a flying

machine Codex

Atlanticus f.844r is a

drawing by Leonardo

da Vinci

Renaissance, a period of great cultural

change and achievement that began in

Italy during the 14th century and lasted

until the 16th century, marking the

transition between Medieval and Early

Modern Europe

Italy is a country with great players in the bioeconomy

Mater-Biotech company, entirely controlled by Novamont, represents the start-up of the

Novamont Biotechnology Platform. The BioItalia site in Adria (RO) will be converted into the

first plant in the world dedicated to the industrial production of Butandiol (BDO) from

renewable resources.

In 2012 Novamont acquired a business unit of Tecnogen at Piana di Monte Verna (Caserta),

a biotechnology research center supervised by the Sigma Tau Finanziaria SpA, that had

already been put in liquidation. Novamont objective is to integrate this important Italian

know-how in the field of Industrial Biotechnology with the research and development

programs, in order to develop new national supply chains starting from agricultural scraps

for the production of raw materials and chemical intermediates.

Proesa™ belongs to the so-called “second-generation” technologies which allow the use of

the sugars present in lignocellulosic biomass to obtain fuel and other chemicals with lower

greenhouse gas emissions and at competitive costs compared to fossil fuels (oil, natural

gas).

It is the result of an investment of over 150 million Euro, started by Biochemtex in 2006.

The Proesa™ technology was designed to use non-food biomass, like rice straw and

sugarcane bagasse. Thanks to the efficiency of the Proesa™ process, non food sugars can

be obtained at competitive costs and without incentives, thus enabling a widely spread use

of bio-products from renewable sources.

Beta Renewables announced that it won the ACHEMA 2012 Innovation Award in the

category of Biotechnology for its PROESA® technology.

The award, presented by PROCESS, honors the most innovative technologies at ACHEMA,

a major conference for the chemical engineering, environmental protection and

biotechnology industries. Over 100 companies applied for awards in ten categories.

Winners were picked according to innovation, usability, quality, efficiency and economy.

Its “aim is to work in the field of the modern biotechnologies applied to

widely used materials, with the “intention to create 100% natural

products/solutions based on renewable resources or agricultural

processing waste materials”.

The main product of Bio-On is MINERV-PHA, a high-performance PHA

biopolymer, that is particularly suitable for injection and extrusion

methods for the production of objects. It takes the place of highly

pollutant materials such as PET, PP, PE, HDPE and LDPE.

EuropaBio’s Most Innovative Biotech SME Award in 2014.

Agreements with Magna International (automotive), Eridania Sadam

(biobased levulinic acid from byproducts of sugar industry) and Pizzoli

(bioplastic using waste from potato industrial process)

Spike Renewables is a recently established Company composed by scientists and

engineers from the University of Florence, Spike is member of RE-CORD Renewable

Energy Consortium for R&D.

The Company is particularly focused on bioenergy and biofuels. The technologies on which

Spike has a specific expertise are biomass thermochemical conversion (torrefaction,

pyrolysis, gasification) and biofuel processes, both first and second generation biofuels.

Spike is participating in the design of two industrial scale advanced biofuel production plants

from microalgae (under construction in Italy and Chile)

Agroils Technologies focuses on the development and commercialization of its

patent-pending process enabling the production of superior quality biofuels, animal

feed and molecules of pharmaceutical interest from drought-resistant energy crop

Jatropha curcas.

The process does not require the use of fossil based alcohols; it is modular, fully

scalable, cost competitive & environmental friendly. The company has its

headquarters in Florence, an R&D facility in California and it has installed its first

pilot plant in Dominican Republic, where it produces Biodiesel from Jatropha and

waste vegetable oils collected from local restaurants and fast-foods.

Sacom uses biological organisms to solve environmental problems such as

contaminated soil or groundwater.

Sacom was founded in 1981 to distribute agricultural products in the regional

market. Since 1992 its activity has been focused on the production of fertilizers

and products for agriculture.

After the acquisition of ELEP S.p.A. subsidiary, the production has also been

extended to Green Biotechnologies for agricultural use like microorganisms and

mycorrhizae. Today Sacom’s core business is Green Biotechnology for agricultural

use and fertilizers production and marketing.

Industrial Biotech company which are partners of Italian Chemical Industry:

Novozymes (DK) Beta Renewables 20% of shares and Cellic enzyme

Genomatica (USA) Novamont (JV Mater Biotech) bioBDO (butanediol)

Genomatica (USA) Versalis biobutadiene from non food biomass engineering organisms fermentation

Yulex (USA) Versalis (and Pirelli) guayule-based biorubber extraction technology

Chemistry and Biotechnology

Conclusions

WITHOUT BIOTECHNOLOGY THERE IS NO BIOECONOMY

THE BIOECONOMY IS A REALITY IN ITALY AND A GREAT

OPPORTUNITY TO RETURN TO GROWTH, RECONCILING

ECONOMIC GROWTH, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, NEW HIGH-

SKILLED JOBS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY.

ITALY HAS EXCELLENT ENTREPRENEURS AND RESEARCHERS.

IN THE INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY SECTOR ITALY IS DOING

WELL

WE NEED A STRATEGIC NATIONAL PLAN ON BIOECONOMY

a. Agrofood Activities

b. Marine & Maritime Activities

c. Biorefineries

d. Domestic and non-domestic wastes used as resources

e. Transformation of biological materials from algal cultures and

microrganisms

Mario Bonaccorso

www.assobiotec.it

m.bonaccorso@federchimica.it

See you in Lodi at IFIB 2015

(24-25 September 2015)

www.ifib2015.talkb2b.net

@assobiotec

GREEN Biotech

Green biotech covers a number of modern techniques with various potential applications, ranging from improving specific plant varieties to checking the origin and quality of food, and extracting bioactive substances which are available in nature only to a limited extend

Nowadays, more than ever, growing the agricultural production in a sustainable manner, without increasing cultivated land, preserving biodiversity and reducing water consumption, chemical input and greenhouse emission is felt as a tangible need

The introduction of the new techniques of genetic engineering have drastically changed the perspective of improving the productivity and the quality of a number of plant varieties, fully respecting the sustainability and the quality of the entire food chain

WHITE Biotech

White biotech makes an increasingly important contribution to the development of a sustainable biobased economy, by using enzymes and micro-organisms to obtain innovative products in the chemistry, paper, textiles and energy sectors

White biotech could also provide new chances to the chemical industry by allowing easy access to building blocks and materials not easily accessible before, and have a considerable impact in the production of biofuels and biopolymers, by using biomass as an alternative to fossil resources