Capra Biosciences on the Leading Wave of Sustainable Biomanufacturing
By Mark Terry
June 19, 2023
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Capra Biosciences, based in Manassas, Va., is building the foundation — literally, in many ways — to grow in the area of synthetic biology and biomanufacturing. Working with its patented bioreactor technology, the company is manufacturing traditionally petroleum-based chemicals using biological processes. The company’s first product is a 100% petroleum-free Retinol.
Company co-founder and CEO Elizabeth Onderko told BioBuzz, “We have a bioreactor platform that we use to make sustainable chemicals. To do this we use synthetic biology paired with hardware innovation. The whole synthetic biology revolution is focused on harnessing a lot of the innate power of biology in nature.”
Retinol is a form of Vitamin A, which is used in anti-aging cosmetics. In addition to manufacturing it in a more sustainable fashion, Capra Biosciences is able to do so at significantly lower costs with improved quality and reliability.
To date, the company raised about $2.3 million in venture capital funds. Onderko said the funding was divided between an initial $500,000 funding and a later funding round. In June 2022, the company announced it had raised $1.8 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round. This funding will be used to build their production-scale bioreactor and expand its capabilities to include creating lubricants.
The company is located in the Prince William Science Accelerator, coming out of the IndieBio program backed by SOSV. Pre-seed investors included Prithvi Ventures, the E14 Fund, GS Futures, Antimo’s president – Wes Osbourn, Savantus Ventures, Asymmetry Ventures, the Decarbonization Consortium, and SOSV.
In April of this year, the company entered into an agreement with BioMADE worth $2 million, divided with Capra’s collaborators at Boston University. Capra plans to build out its bioreactor technology up to 600-liter reactors, while Boston University will work on sensor technology to predict the bioreactor’s performance.
Onderko said, “That is non-dilutive funding. This project is focused on advancing bioreactor design and development. The contract is with BioMADE with support from Schmidt Futures. We’re currently operating in a wet lab space at the Prince William Science Accelerator. The BioMADE funding is going towards helping us scale up our bioreactors and develop some of the supporting technology that will be required for the pilot scale. Then we will need to raise some additional private capital to complete a buildout of a pilot plant facility.”
BioMADE issued a special Project Call on advancing bioreactor design and development with support of Schmidt Futures. Schmidt Futures is a philanthropic project of Eric and Wendy Schmidt to support developing solutions to hard problems in science and society. Capra was one of several companies winning the contracts, with theirs titled “Modular Biofilm Reactors to Convert Waste-based Feedstocks to Vitamin A.”
Once Capra raises additional capital, Onderko told BioBuzz, “We will begin construction of our pilot plant, which will give us the production capacity to enter the market with our products on a scale that customers are actually interested in purchasing. And from there, we’re going to bring additional products into our pipeline and continue to grow capacity.”
Those additional products Capra expects to produce are emollients and lubricants, with Onderko saying these include products that would be used in aerospace or aviation instrumentation and engines.
More broadly, the company is on the leading edge of a growing wave and national strategy to increase domestic biology-based manufacturing. In September 2022, President Biden signed an Executive Order to advance biotechnology and biomanufacturing innovation. Not only is this designed to grow sustainable industries and bolster the U.S. economy, but to strengthen U.S. manufacturing jobs.
In response to the Biden Administration’s efforts, the Department of Defense announced a $1.2 billion investment in bioindustrial domestic manufacturing infrastructure. A month later, the Biden Administration’s Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) announced a goal of producing 30% of U.S. chemical demand by way of biomanufacturing within 20 years.
Onderko notes that where they are based in Manassas, Virginia “is definitely a biotech ecosystem. It might not be as immediately noticeable as in Boston or San Francisco, but it’s a really great place to be as a company and there is a lot of available talent.”
Capra Biosciences expects the pilot plant to open in mid-2025.
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Mark Terry is a freelance writer, editor, novelist and ghostwriter. He holds a degree in microbiology & public health and spent 18 years in infectious disease research and clinical and research genetics prior to his transition to a writing career. His areas of expertise include biotechnology, pharma, clinical diagnostics, and medical practice management. He has written literally thousands of articles, as well as market research reports, white papers, more than 20 books, and many other written materials. He currently lives in Michigan with his family.
