Since insulin produced by genetically engineered bacteria—rather than the pancreases of slaughtered animals—was first approved in 1982, the market for ‘biomanufactured’ products produced by microbial, animal, or plant cells has grown rapidly. “But in areas other than pharma—whose business models are built on high-margin, low-volume products with low sensitivity to costs—innovations have created only niche markets in enzymes, fragrances, and food and feed supplements,” concedes a recent report from Synonym and Boston Consulting Group. So what will it take to make the economics of precision fermentation stack up for a wider range of bioproducts such that they can compete with low-margin, high volume products derived from petrochemicals or industrialized animal agriculture?

A recent report, co-authored by the New York-based biotech firm Synonym and Boston Consulting Group, has outlined a roadmap for the biomanufacturing industry, predicting a potential explosion to a $200 billion market in specialty sectors over the next ten years. The report Breaking the Cost Barrier on Biomanufacturing encourages the transition to biomanufacturing to address issues of sustainability and cost-efficiency in current industrial production methods. However, the report’s estimated $200 billion market value is focused on precision fermentation to produce food ingredients, chemicals, and chemical precursors. According to the authors, the figure is considered conservative and reflects only a fraction of the potential for growth within the industry

A recent report, co-authored by the New York-based biotech firm Synonym and Boston Consulting Group, has outlined a roadmap for the biomanufacturing industry, predicting a potential explosion to a $200 billion market in specialty sectors over the next ten years. The report Breaking the Cost Barrier on Biomanufacturing encourages the transition to biomanufacturing to address issues of sustainability and cost-efficiency in current industrial production methods. However, the report’s estimated $200 billion market value is focused on precision fermentation to produce food ingredients, chemicals, and chemical precursors. According to the authors, the figure is considered conservative and reflects only a fraction of the potential for growth within the industry