AMSilk, a global leader in advanced materials made from spider silk-based proteins, has announced a partnership with bioproduction company 21st.BIO to accelerate the upscaling of AMSilk’s silk protein production to unprecedented levels. As part of the collaboration, 21st.BIO has developed a new protein production strain using highly specialized precision fermented microorganisms, which ensures extracellular expression of silk proteins and enables manufacturing at unprecedented productivity levels due to higher yield and greater efficiency, thereby reducing production costs.
Spider silk is renowned for its unique combination of strength and flexibility, making it the gold standard of bio industrial materials. AMSilk’s spider silk-based proteins are wholly biodegradable and biocompatible, based on a renewable plant-based feedstock, and do not contain any substances of animal origin. They come with a CO2 greenhouse gas emission reduction of up to 90% and more than 90% less land and water use compared to other protein fibers. Their high-performance qualities enable a wide range of applications in the textile, homecare, biomedical, and automobile industries.
As one of the world’s first industrial scale suppliers of advanced materials made from spider silk-based proteins, AMSilk has been redefining the performance fiber category since 2015, with applications in footwear and garments, and even interior components for automobiles. With a strong patent portfolio, AMSilk is leading the discovery of performance materials based on spider silk proteins.
21st.BIO benefits from the most advanced precision fermentation technology platform in the industry, with production strains that have been perfected for over 40 years and used in dozens of products on the market today. Working in close collaboration with AMSilk, 21st.BIO’s scientists have developed and optimized new production strains, fermentation, and downstream processes to support upscaled production and significantly reduce unit costs. This will enable AMSilk to further broaden its portfolio into different types of fibers and proteins with applications in the broader mid-market.
Gudrun Vogtentanz, Chief Scientific Officer at AMSilk, said: “Through 21st.BIO, we now have access to more efficient production strains which are a game changer in terms of the efficiency and sustainability of our feedstock. Moving production quantities from kilos to tons brings AMSilk’s technology to the next level. This collaboration with 21st.BIO is key to accelerating time-to-market for AMSilk in the current scale-up phase.”
Thomas Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer at 21st.BIO, added: “We founded 21st.BIO to help companies cross over from interesting innovations at lab scale to reliable industrial biotech production in a timely and risk mitigated way. With spider silk proteins this has been challenging, but AMSilk is the first to be able to achieve that goal and bring spider silk proteins into large scale production. The world needs innovators and category shapers like AMSilk and our job is to help them succeed.”
