Cell Media
What if we could leverage photosynthesis to grow cells ethically, and cheaply?
Traditional cell culture media production remains heavily dependent on FBS (Fetal Bovine Serum), presenting significant cost barriers and ethical concerns.
CyanoCapture revolutionises this landscape by harnessing the world's most efficient photosynthetic organisms to produce cell media proteins. While conventional systems using E. coli or fungi require complex sugar feedstocks, our breakthrough process utilises only CO₂ and light. This approach reduces production costs, transforming the economics of cell cultivation.
Why use Cyanobacteria?
Lower Cost of Production
Using photosynthesis, we avoid dependence on a sugar feedstock. Sugars can form up to 50% of the cost base in conventional precision fermentation systems. Reliant instead on light and CO2, CyanoCapture's costs drop below those of a fermentation system.
The key advantage of a photosynthetic system lies in its scalability. Unlike precision fermentation, which will always depend on costly sugar feedstocks, photosynthetic platforms can leverage sunlight and flue gas CO₂ for no cost at scale.
Reliable Supply through Decentralised Biomanufacturing
Heterotrophic systems separate photosynthetic sugar production from protein synthesis, creating a dependency on complex, often intercontinental, supply chains.
CyanoCapture integrates both steps within a single photosynthetic organism, making the process more self-sufficient and lowering its carbon footprint. Our use of geographically agnostic photobioreactors enables localised production of recombinant proteins. In the short term, this reduces transport-related costs and emissions; in the long term, it insulates supply chains from geopolitical volatility.
A Streamlined Chassis, Conducive to Genetic Engineering
Plant-based systems are often proposed as biomanufacturing platforms, but we see cyanobacteria as a superior alternative. Per unit area, cyanobacteria are up to 10 times more efficient than today’s most productive biofuel crops—and they don’t require arable land, preserving fertile soil for agriculture and enabling production in regions lacking such resources.
Cyanobacteria combine the benefits of photosynthesis with the engineering flexibility of a prokaryotic chassis. Their simpler genomes make them far easier to modify than plants. While CyanoCapture can deliver a production-ready strain within a month, equivalent plant-based systems may take 1–2 years. This accelerates iteration, enabling faster optimisation and a steeper learning curve.
Building Our Product Pipeline
Lactate Oxidase
Albumin
Insulin
FGF2
Add to our product pipeline
Example vials leaving CyanoCapture's facility
CyanoCapture's 80,000L subcontractor site in North America
CyanoCapture's 60,000L subcontractor site in Europe
CyanoCapture's Scale-Up Trajectory
CyanoCapture has the standing PBR capacity at our partnered sites to scale-up production in a de-risked manner through subcontracting.
In Q3/Q4 2025, CyanoCapture will commence operations at our partner facility in North America with an initial bioreactor working volume of 20,000L. We expect to extract in the tens of kilograms of recombinant proteins from this site. The site has standing capacity of up to 80,000L which we can leverage for further scale-up.