BIOM is a biotechnology company that researches into, develops and produces biomaterials for industry. It was created as a spin off at UPF at the end of 2019, due to the interest in finding alternative biodegradable biomaterials to conventional products such as adhesives, cellulose, plastics, and so on, which contain toxic components and/or generate scarcely degradable, pollutant waste.

Many companies require products and components that involve unsustainable or unethical procurement processes. “Our method for obtaining new biomaterials is clean (no waste is generated during production), circular and environmentally friendly, thus we provide a sustainable, ecological alternative”, explains Ramon Farré-Escofet, CEO and one of the founders of the company.

BIOM integrates multidisciplinary knowledge in engineering, molecular biology and biotechnology to produce raw materials of interest to industry by using organic waste. “Before starting to produce the molecules we needed a culture medium to grow the microorganisms, which we get from an enriched extract of microalgae (cyanobacteria), our company’s first product”, outlines Javier Macía, CTO, co-founder of BIOM and principal investigator with the UPF Synthetic Biology for Biomedical Applications research group.

BIOM integrates multidisciplinary knowledge in engineering, molecular biology and biotechnology to produce raw materials of interest to industry by using organic waste.

Ficogenic Broth is a high-yield culture medium for growing all microorganisms, including yeast and bacteria. It is free of components of animal and/or vegetable origin, and is set to come to market at the end of the year. It can be useful for research centres or companies that produce bacteria and yeast. At the moment, they are investigating the behaviour in cell cultures (both plant and animal) yielding good results in the laboratory, which will allow them to introduce it in other sectors of interest.

“Using this culture medium we are also working on the production of bacterial cellulose”, Macía points out. Cellulose is widely used in industry, in such sectors as cosmetics, medicine, textiles, or in the automotive industry to reinforce the structures of cars. To date it is of plant origin, which contributes to deforestation. “This new product is called Nanulose and we are working to produce it on a large scale and at very low cost”, Macía adds. They plan to start marketing it in the first quarter of next year.

Finally, thinking about a short-term future of the company “we are developing other projects such as the production of biodegradable bacterial plastics, adhesives and algae producing the culture medium”, Macía concludes.

Our method for obtaining new biomaterials is clean (no waste is generated during production), circular and environmentally friendly, thus we provide a sustainable, ecological alternative

UPF supported the creation of this spinoff in view of its commitment to transferring knowledge and technology to society. It did so via its transfer office, the Innovation Unit – UPF Business Shuttle, and the innovation management company UPF Ventures, driven and participated in by the University itself. Bioinspired Materials also won ex aequo the UPF Board of Trustees’ Knowledge Transfer Award 2019.

Also, the project received aid in the ‘Product’ category of the Knowledge industry programme (reference 2018 PROD 00020), awarded by the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of the Government (Generalitat) of Catalonia to help knowledge generated by the Catalan scientific community reach the productive fabric. Bioinspired Materials was also one of the proposals selected by Barcelona Activa to enter its technology-based project accelerator, where it has received advice, support and training to help in the creation of the company.

BIOM has been recognized as an Innovative Technology-Based Company (ITBC) by ANCES, the National Association of Spanish BICs (European Business Innovation Centres).