Grant: CCI Applied Research and Development Grants

Liven Proteins is a precision fermentation company developing animal-free protein ingredients, such as collagen, with comparable textures and functional properties as animal proteins. Collagen is one of the most abundant proteins produced in the human body, giving stability and strength to various tissues such as tendons, skin, and teeth. Liven Proteins has developed modified strains of Pichia pastoris for collagen production. This yeast is one of the most useful and versatile systems for heterologous protein expression. It is of particular industrial interest due to its tightly regulated methanol-inducible alcohol oxidase 1 promoter (pAOX1), capacity for foreign protein secretion, post-translational modifications capabilities, and ability to grow on defined media at high cell densities, and its strong preference for respiratory. In collaboration with Lambton College's Bioindustrial Process Research Centre (BPRC), Liven Proteins has proven their proprietary strain produces collagen at high titer. This collaborative research project will focus on the commercialization of biotechnological collagen. Lambton's BPRC will help to improve the bioprocess by testing different raw materials, fermentation protocols, and downstream processes to produce animal-free collagen. The project's success will allow Liven Proteins to scale up production to 100 L and 1000 L by the end of 2023. This will enable Liven to produce kg-scale samples to provide to their customers in the functional food and beverage companies for testing incorporating in their formulations, thereby helping Liven to secure strategic partners and early customers.