The new Science Secretary Rt Hon Dr Peter Kyle MP met biotech innovators at Imperial's White City Deep Tech Campus yesterday.

Hosted by Imperial's Provost Professor Ian Walmsley, Professor Karen Polizzi, Department of Chemical Engineering, Professor Anthony Bull, Department of Bioengineering and Chair of MedTechOne and Cai Linton, Co-Founder and CEO of Multus, Dr Kyle visited the Translation and Innovation Hub at the White City Deep Tech Campus to see the latest biotechnology innovation in the sustainable food sector. 

"The launch of the Regulatory Innovation Office, a key manifesto commitment, is a big step forward in bringing the UK’s most promising new technologies to the public faster and safely while kickstarting economic growth." Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Dr Peter Kyle MP

The visit came as the government announced the launch of the new Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO), which will seek to support businesses and entrepreneurs to enable new products and innovations to reach the market more quickly. The RIO will initially focus on four areas of technology which are engineering biology, space, AI and digital in healthcare, and connected and autonomous technology. 

The RIO will work with regulators to see where regulation and approvals can be improved and streamlined across different regulators. It will also work to inform the government of regulatory barriers to innovation and help to set priorities for regulators which align with the government’s ambitions.

SCALING UP INNOVATION

The group visited the labs of Multus, a biotechnology startup founded by four Imperial students that has designed novel feedstocks for cultivated meat production. The company has grown and rapidly scaled since its incorporation in 2020, first starting the development of their idea in Imperial’s Advanced Hackspace before growing in the Translation and Innovation Hub and the Imperial Incubator. 

Multus - who raised £7.9m of funding in 2023 - have now opened the world’s first pilot manufacturing facility designed to produce growth media for the cultivated meat industry, uniquely combining the quality requirements for cell culturing with food safety requirements. The facility will greatly increase the growth potential of cultivated meat companies and the expansion of the global supply of cultivated meat by helping to cut costs and accelerate products from lab to market.

ENGINEERING BIOLOGY ECOSYSTEM

Imperial has created a world-leading ecosystem for research into engineering biology that is underpinned by cross- and multi-disciplinary teams working at the forefront of science and innovation. 

In June, Imperial’s Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein was launched, which will develop innovative and evidence-based solutions through the design, delivery, and commercialisation of alternative food products that are economically and environmentally friendly, nutritious, affordable, and tasty. Backed by $30m of funding by the Bezos Earth Fund and spanning across seven Imperial academic departments, the Centre will advance research into precision fermentation, cultivated meat, bioprocessing and automation, nutrition, and AI and machine learning.

In August, Imperial co-launched the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC) to develop tasty, planet-friendly animal protein alternatives. Led by Professor Polizzi, NAPIC will convene more than 100 UK and international stakeholders, leveraging £35m of funding from UKRI and from industry partners. While the Bezos Centre focuses on applying engineering biology and AI to accelerate the development of tasty alternative proteins, NAPIC will focus on a range of approaches that help them to become mainstream in the UK. 

Imperial's MedTechONE, led by Professor Bull, aims to support medical technology entrepreneurs in the Imperial ecosystem by helping them to tackle challenges such as regulatory hurdles and high technology development costs. MedTechONE provides an accelerator programme to derisk technologies with significant translational potential, alongside access to training and national networks.