KnipBio’s patent titled Methylotrophs for Aquaculture and Animal Feed has been approved for grant by the European Patent Office. The patent offers broad-based protection for the company’s intellectual property rights in the use of methylotrophic bacteria to produce single-cell proteins for animal feeds. 

KnipBio CEO, Larry Feinberg said that “for the past five years we have been developing our PROTEINplus product platform around the technology covered by this patent and we are gratified that the patent office recognizes the uniqueness and importance of this work. Single-cell protein made from methylotrophs offers an outstanding option for meeting the protein needs of the aquaculture industry in the coming decades. The manufacturing process is highly scalable and the single-cell protein produced is traceable, an increasingly important benefit for the industry.”

Methylotrophs, like Methylobacterium extorquens, are highly valuable microbes for the production of feed ingredients and as a source of protein. Beyond their ability to create single-cell proteins (SCP) with an amino acid profile similar to fishmeal, methylotrophs are naturally able to express functional molecules such as the prebiotic polyhydroxybutyrate and carotenoids that offer important benefits in aquafeed diets.

Feinberg added that “the technology development and patent protection process started several years ago and we are pleased to have achieved these results. This award, coupled with our GRAS designation from the US Food and Drug Administration earlier this year, validates the emergence of viable alternative proteins to serve animal nutrition industries including alternative proteins for aquaculture.”