Kalamazoo, Michigan, Calgary, Alberta and Mountain View, California – November 8, 2022 – Willow Biosciences Inc. (“Willow“) (TSX: WLLW; OTCQB: CANSF), a leading biotechnology company focused on revolutionizing industrial manufacturing of pure, consistent and sustainable functional ingredients and Kalsec® Inc. (”Kalsec”), a leading global producer of natural taste and sensory, food protection, colors and advanced hops ingredients for the food and beverage industry, announce entry into a Master Services Agreement (the “MSA”) to develop and commercialize a precision fermentation production process for a high volume, natural food opportunity.
“We are pleased to add a new functional ingredient to our portfolio, highlighting the demand for our fully integrated FutureGrown™ technology platform,” said Dr. Peter Seufer-Wasserthal, Willow’s President & CEO. “We welcome the opportunity to advance Kalsec’s range of natural, sustainable products while also evolving Willow’s business strategy.”
The MSA consists of research and development and scale-up phases, with Willow generating revenues from both research fees and milestone payments. If successful, and the partnership proceeds to commercialization, both parties anticipate entering into a license agreement to share in the economics of the delivered product. This strategic partnership is driving important innovation and will support greater adoption of precision fermentation technology for natural food and beverage products.
Willow’s FutureGrown™ technology platform is a fully integrated, proven solution for rapid strain engineering, process development and scaled-up manufacturing that incorporates the latest technologies available for precision fermentation. Willow’s R&D pipeline now includes four functional ingredients utilizing its FutureGrown™ technology. Kalsec’s projects with Willow focus on S. cerevisiae (brewer’s yeast), which is an ideal host for expressing and engineering metabolic pathways to numerous products of interest to the food and beverage market.
Kalsec’s long history and expertise in creating natural products and solutions for the food and beverage industry will enable the benefits of precision fermentation to be realized. By working closely with their customers, the development team at Kalsec has identified multiple potential opportunities for collaboration and innovation in this space.
“Kalsec continually researches new technologies to enhance sustainability and efficiency in our production capabilities and enable the maturation of markets for natural products,” says Dr. Roger Nahas, Executive Vice President of Global R&D and Chief Innovation Officer. “We look forward to this collaboration with Willow to introduce new, precision-fermented products to benefit our customers and the environment.”
About Kalsec Inc.
Kalsec® Inc provides innovative taste and sensory, natural food protection, natural colors and advanced hops solutions to the food and beverage industries. We capture the best nature has to offer and utilize over 60 years of experience and industry leading innovation to make food and beverage products look better, taste better and last longer. Family owned and headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan since 1958, Kalsec has regional offices, laboratories and sales teams in North America, Europe, and Asia. As a certified B Corp, Kalsec makes ethical and sustainable decisions that serve our customers, employees, communities, and the environment. We are proud to be using our business as a force for good. For more information, visit www.kalsec.com.
About Willow Biosciences Inc.
Willow develops and produces precision fermented functional ingredients for the health and wellness, food and beverage and personal care markets. Willow’s FutureGrown™ biotechnology platform allows large-scale production with sustainability at its core. Willow’s R&D team has a proven track record of developing and commercializing bio-based manufacturing processes and products to benefit our B2B partners and their customers. For more information, visit www.willowbio.com.
