NRC and SRC sign unprecedented collaboration agreement to boost bioproducts capacity

First step in combining RTO expertise

Two of Canada's largest research and technology organizations (RTOs) have joined forces in an unprecedented collaboration to assist companies in developing bio-manufacturing processes and moving niche bioproducts into the marketplace. The agreement between the National Research Council (NRC) and the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) combines the facilities and expertise of both organizations, which will co-manage a state-of-the art fermentation facility at Saskatoon's Innovation Place to meet the growing demand for a range of fermentation services.

The collaboration will help SRC expand its service offerings nationally and internationally while giving NRC much needed access to fermentation services, augmenting its facility in Montreal which is currently geared primarily towards clients in the health field. It also coincides with the launch of the NRC's Bio-based Specialty Chemicals (BSC) program — the 42nd new program launched since the NRC's reconfiguration — unveiled earlier this month in Montreal at the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology.

"SRC has a very nice bioprocessing facility which is well-equipped and designed. It's great for scaling up so we decided to arrange for co-use and co-management," says Dr Roman Szumski, NRC's VP life sciences. "There's an art to bioprocessing requiring experience, wisdom, know-how and expertise. There's now a bigger pool of talent."

Szumski says the BSC has already lined up clients, placing pressure on its fermentation facilities and associated offerings —biomass development, biocatalyst and bioprocessing and microbial analysis. With the SRC collaboration, NRC will be able to provide clients with timely access to facilities and services it would otherwise be unable to furnish.

"Without SRC, we would have to do new hiring and require 18 months for scale-up. We now have instant access and can accelerate the delivery of our programs," he says. "The collaboration is proactive which is part of the new NRC. Some PROs (provincial research organizations) are really good in niche areas.

The collaboration also marks the first time NRC has entered into a formal collaboration with another RTO. Szumski says NRC may add infrastructure and capital to the Saskatoon facility in the future.

The opportunity to partner first arose at a meeting of Innoventures Canada (I-CAN) of which NRC is a member and Szumski currently chairs.

"We engage regularly and develop trust. Our discussions at I-CAN set the stage for real collaboration when the opportunity arose for bioprocessing," he says. "No doubt there will be other similar deals ... There's a huge opportunity in Canada in several sectors and there's a commitment to work together at this stage. Investment will follow client needs. It's what we should be doing in Canada because competition is the world and we can't balkanize into separate entities."

SRC expanding reach

For SRC, collaborating with NRC comes at a time when its larger counterpart is transitioning to an industry client-focused RTO — a model SRC has honed with impressive results. The provincial government provides 25% of SRC's budget with the remainder coming from contract services, mainly from industry.

"It forces us to have a very strong focus on clients. They're mostly from Saskat-chewan but they could be from anywhere in the world," says Dr Phillip Stephan, SRC's VP strategic initiatives. "My role is to proactively go out and seek collaborations (and) this collaboration with the NRC is a key plank in our 2020 Strategy ... increasing our prominence and reputation beyond the province."

Stephan says NRC will use its facilities both for the BSC and its established natural health products programs. He credits the successful negotiations between the two RTOs to SRC's $5-million commitment to its fermentation facilities and its highly skilled workforce.

It also helped that NRC and SRC have previously collaborated, primarily through the NRC's Industrial Research Assistance Program and their participation in I-CAN.

"McDougall and (SRC president Dr Laurier) Schramm know each other well and bioprocessing was low hanging fruit in terms of collaboration," says Stephan. "We hope this is just the beginning because NRC and SRC do far more than biotechnology. There are clear opportunities to do more."

NRC has long had a strong presence in Saskatoon, centred around the former Plant Biotechnology Institute. When NRC undertook its transformation, PBI was hit harder than many other former institutes, leading to a painful transition period which Szumski says is now complete.

"PBI experienced that largest shift in ways of doing business. Before it was largely an academic model and cultural change is hard," he says. "It now has a crop development portfolio and a very active wheat alliance (Canadian Wheat Alliance - R$, May 23/13), a 12-year program to develop new varieties of wheat."

Bio-based Specialty Chemicals

NRC's Saskatchewan-based activity will be significantly increased as the BSC program ramps up. BSC is an eight-year initiative with a budget of $34 million, with NRC contributing half to be matched through industry collaboration and technical services.

"The bio-based chemical industry is relatively new and small but it's growing rapidly at between 8% and 20% per year," says Jim Johnston, BSC's program lead. "There's an opportunity to have a $1.4-billion per year impact, mostly in bio fuels but including $300 million for specialty chemicals. Biofuels laid the foundation for growth in other niches like chemicals."

Johnston says that most of the NRC's current capacity is geared towards pharmaceuticals and biologicals which is why SRC is so important to the program.

"We decided to leverage existing facilities and SRC has a nice foundation of equipment," he says. "Our Montreal facility has similar capacity and it's undergoing a three-year overhaul as a Pilot Plant of the Future."

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