US biotech firm to develop production process for new fish feed ingredient

A California-based biotech company has received £2.8-million (around $4 million) in funding from the UK Government to develop the production process for a new fish feed ingredient.

Calysta Inc said it will use the funds to build its first R&D facility in the UK that will work on commercializing FeedKind protein. 

FeedKind is a new fish feed ingredient that the company believes will reduce the aquaculture industry’s use of fishmeal. It is “a natural, safe, non-GMO sustainable fish feed ingredient [that] is approved for sale in the European Union,” Calysta said in a press release.

Calysta is marketing FeedKind Aqua to the global salmon farming industry.  “For the first time, FeedKind Aqua provides the aquaculture industry with the opportunity to further improve its sustainability profile as it grows to meet increasing global demand for fish protein,” said the company.

FeedKind is manufactured using a natural process similar to the production of yeast-extract sandwich spreads, it said. “Studies have confirmed the nutritional value of the feed, based on criteria such as growth performance and animal health,” it added.

The R&D facility will be located at the Teesside Center for Process Innovation in northeast England. The grant of the funds to Calysta’s subsidiary, Calysta (UK) Ltd, is subject to due diligence from the UK Government and could potentially lead to a £30-million investment over 10 years, Calysta said.