Are biomaterials ready for mainstream adoption?

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Vincent Valk:

Hey everyone, this is Vincent Valk. Thanks for listening to the Chemical Week Podcast. This episode is a conversation I had recently with Leticia Gonçalves of IFF about the company's Designed Enzymatic Biomaterials platform. We discuss why IFF refers to it as a platform rather than a product, challenges in commercialization and scale-up of biomaterials, and the potential IFF sees in the platform for a wide variety of applications. We hope you all like it.

Longtime listeners may notice that this episode is posting a week early. We typically publish on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month, but decided to run this one earlier than usual due to the upcoming holidays. So this will be our last episode of 2025, and then we're taking a little time off. Our posting schedule will resume normally in January. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you again for listening and to wish you a happy holiday season and a healthy new year. We'll see you in 2026.

Leticia Gonçalves:

Biomaterials have long been viewed as the future, and I'm hearing this for decades now. And while some progress has been seen, they haven't been mature enough. And unfortunately, the market hasn't evolved from niche applications to mainstream large-scale applications. The key shift right now is that sustainable materials are achieving a large-scale commercial adoption phase with evolving technologies, with the regulatory and policymaking space, adopting those technologies for the future in terms of regulatory approval, the cost of scalability, the unique economics are becoming favorable and more and more partners and companies are becoming more open to this market shift.

Vincent Valk:

Hi, and welcome to the Chemical Week Podcast. I'm Vincent Valk. Our guest today is Leticia Gonçalves, President of the Health & Biosciences division at IFF, and we are going to talk today about IFF's biomaterials technologies and some of the challenges of scale up and adoption in the biomaterial space. Hi Leticia.

Leticia Gonçalves:

Hi Vince.

Vincent Valk:

How are you?

Leticia Gonçalves:

Very good.

Vincent Valk:

Great, and thanks for coming on to the podcast. I'll just get started here. You have this platform at IFF that you've rolled out recently called the Designed Enzymatic Biomaterials platform. Tell us a little bit about what that is and how it works.

Leticia Gonçalves:

That's great. Our design is biomaterials, we call it DEB is IFF's proprietary enzyme-driven platform that transforms renewable plant sugars into tailored biodegradable polymers. It uses a two-enzyme process to build and structure glucan-based polymers, followed by chemical functionalization to tailor performance across multiple applications. It enables precision engineering of materials with the specific performance attributes replacing fossil fuel ingredients. So it's really a decade in the making. So DEB started over a decade ago backed by a robust IP portfolio. We have over 800 patents around this technology and really a first mover advantage.

And the reason I'm saying it's a first mover advantage is because it's the first time that we have a biomaterial that brings performance, sustainability, and scalability and really truly renewable. And it can really address many, many opportunities that today are in home and personal care, but DEB can expand into other treatment, paper through a new JV that we put in place that I can talk more about later, but there are even more applications in specialty polymers like packaging and others that this technology can really address sustainability performance and cost all into one product.

Vincent Valk:

And so you say it's a platform. Why the choice of that particular word? Why is it the DEB platform and not the DEB technology or product or something like that?

Leticia Gonçalves:

The reason we call it a platform, if you look at our Health & Biosciences Division today, we are very much focused on home and personal care, agricultural, biofuels, food and health around humans and animals. DEB is a platform because it can go across many other industrial verticals. So it basically can go into many of the specialty polymers. Markets today, they are fuel based today that can become nature-inspired through the DEB technology.

As I said, it can go through other industrial sectors like construction, it can go into other biomaterial replacements of fossil fuel and we can even discuss more later about specifics. But again, it allows us to really place into a platform approach to develop new verticals and achieve new market opportunities that are in the specialty polymers today.

Vincent Valk:

So it's almost like a process for developing biomaterials that can be used for a variety of different applications?

Leticia Gonçalves:

Yes, because the DEB technology is enzyme-based, we can't really go into applications including food and dairy where DEB enzymes can improve textures, contribute to sugar reduction as an example, or looking even beyond those applications. We see strong potential for our technology in flexible packaging, coatings, construction materials, textiles and nonwovens, elastomers and agricultural products. So we can see the amount of application feasibility is tremendous.

It's almost like we now have to really prioritize where we are going to focus next after home and personal care and water treatment and open packaging where we started, because the opportunities are huge and we need to always look from a performance sustainability costs and partnership for scalability, because we are not doing DEB just ourselves. We are bio-innovating with partners and customers to ensure that we can shape the market together and also we can ensure that the consumers, the final consumers are going to see the benefit as well. So again, tremendous opportunity to drive this platform to really achieve multi-billion dollar opportunities in the next 10 years.

Vincent Valk:

Great, and I want to talk a little bit more about some of the sectors you're targeting and the potential applications in a minute. But before we get to that, I just want to ask a more kind of backward looking question. What have been some of the key challenges? And you said that this has been under development for quite some time in bringing the DE platform to a point where it is commercially viable.

Leticia Gonçalves:

For us, it was very important to develop a platform or technology that can not only perform similar to the incumbents, but similar to the fossil fuel products, but it can drive performance, sustainability and cost to scale to make sure that we can drive innovation at scale with the commercial adoption. The first few years, the technology was in the making, was in discovery phase and it took a while for us to get at least the proof of concept and the technology feasibility.

But the last few years, the most important thing is how we can now drive this technology to be scalable and drive innovation with powers to really shape this market. That's kind of the triangle that I like talking about, which for me are the key success factors of the bioeconomy revolution.

Industrial biotechnology can only be successful if you have great technology that can be commercialized at scale through the right unit economics for scalability, the right performance and sustainability attributes, but most importantly with the right partners that can drive commercial adoption in the market.

So all of that is what took 10 years for us in home and personal care in industrial applications tied to water treatment and pulp and packaging with Alpha Bio JV and now we are exploring other partners, including the recent BASF announcement where we are going to really combine biosciences with chemistry know-how from BASF to continue expanding this platform in multiple places.

Vincent Valk:

Great. So you mentioned home and personal care a couple of times and I know you've started with that, although I know also there's the Alpha Bio JV, which we'll talk about in a bit. But why are you starting with targeting the personal and home care sectors for products that are based on this platform?

Leticia Gonçalves:

I would start with the customers and the partners in the home and personal care, the HPC industry is very important because they're spearheading sustainable future and bringing a lot of more innovations. So I want to give credit to the industry players, our customers and partners who are in the forefront of new technologies, new regulations that are really pursuing the opportunities for us to really address those challenges in regulation innovation with more sustainable materials.

So first is the industry with looking for solutions and want to innovate with partners like IFF to really find those solutions and face those challenges together. The second is these categories are high volume, high visibility, and they have the for sustainable disruption. So because they're high volume, high visibility, that also allows us to develop technologies that are economically viable with scale through the high volume opportunities.

Third, DEB enables drop-in replacement for certain synthetic ingredients that doesn't break down easily in the environment like those used to make our hair feel soft or laundry pods dissolve without losing any of the cleaning or care benefits. Again, the DEB technology is very suited for the care and cleaning benefits that you see from the incumbent fossil fuel products.

And lastly, it's ideal that provided the ground to build customer trust and the brand credibility, particularly with the customers that are skeptical that bio-based materials can perform at least as well if not better as the incumbents. So those are the key reasons that made us to start in home and personal care.

Vincent Valk:

You kind of touched on this a little bit I think in the first part of your answer where you talked about your customers and partners in this space really prioritizing sustainability, but when I saw that, I'm just curious to get your thought on this. The first thing that I thought was, well, it makes sense that they're targeting home and personal care because that's a sector where it seems like there's maybe more of a consumer push for sustainability versus some other industries or sectors where the customer base is more industrial, it's more of a kind of B2B type thing. I don't know if that was a consideration.

Leticia Gonçalves:

Yeah, we look at those platforms especially as we are highly science-based, technology-driven company from an end-to-end innovation ecosystem approach. Do we have a technology that can bring the technical feasibility? Do we have the cost to scale and do we have the innovative partners downstream right to your point to connect B2B and B2B2C to ensure that we can drive from the technology feasibility to the commercial acceptance and feasibility to really drive the total market shaping to ensure that it creates value for all people involved and also for consumers? So we have to look end-to-end.

I say it's a technology push, it's a market back and everything that goes in between, which includes the technical feasibility, the cost to scale, the commercial adoption, the market shaping, the regulatory framework, connecting public and private sectors to ensure that we can create a new market. You asked me before why DEB is a platform, because it's not just a material, it's a platform for market transformation. That's why I call this innovation ecosystem. It's a full market transformation.

Vincent Valk:

And so let me ask a little bit about, first, the Alpha Bio JV. So that's I believe your joint venture with Kemira based on the technology and that's going to target water treatment pulp and paper applications. Am I correct about that?

Leticia Gonçalves:

Correct. The Alpha Bio JV with Kemira is building a dedicated DEB production facility in Finland with commercialization expected by 2027, 2028. So it's a new strategic collaboration that really combine the efforts of IFF technology and innovation with Kemira access to the markets of water treatment, pigment or pulp and packaging to really combine the two capabilities, our technology and ability to bring the product to the market with career access to those end markets, to then jointly do the scalability and build the first of a kind production asset for DEB.

Vincent Valk:

Yeah, and I know you've already talked a little about collaboration and you mentioned another collaboration with BASF. Do you see other partnerships along the lines of the kind of Alpha Bio JV where you are also jointly operating a production facility especially? And also, why do you see this kind of partnership as so important for commercializing the technology and kind of driving it forward?

Leticia Gonçalves:

Yeah, the answer is yes. So I'll even touch a little bit on the most recent partnership with BASF that really accelerate enzyme and polymer innovation across cleaning and personal care application. This is a great example of two industry players working together to create innovation that otherwise wouldn't be possible individually.

So IFF, as much as we are confident about technology, we are an innovation leader in this space. We are number one, number two in every segment we participate in the biosciences and health space. At the same time, we also recognize that we cannot own it all. Innovation requires a systemic approach and really connecting the dots from combining capabilities from different partners to use the strengths of different players to really get one plus one equals three, four, five. And these partnerships are not transactional. They're really transformational.

Combining IFF bioscience expertise with a partner's application and scale and market access, as I mentioned before, as we think about other specialty polymers and use markets, we are not into those markets today, right? We are not a company that is in B2C or we are not connected to all customers in the space. So we do need a partner specialty to validate the technology, do market shaping together and really help us to drive adoption at scale into those customers.

So again, partnership is going to continue being the core of how we build this platform. We're going to be looking even into licensing opportunities for potential spaces that we are not even interested in building a commercial viable asset in terms of production and commercialization. So we can go from licensing, it can go from joint venture, it can go from strategic partnerships, it can go for a go-to-market partnership only for distribution of the technology. We are very open and we are very proud of being able to bring confidence and a humble approach in how we invite other industry players to participate.

Vincent Valk:

So I guess the Alpha Bio thing would be an example of a JV where there's a production asset in the BASF partnership that's more kind of a strategic collaboration?

Leticia Gonçalves:

Correct?

Vincent Valk:

I mean, how do you think little bit about partnership? You mentioned that this is sort of transformational, not transactional, but obviously there is a transaction there to some degree. And I think whenever I have conversations with people about innovation, they always talk a lot about partnership and how important it is and for the reasons that you outline in terms of accelerating the development of a product or the development of our product line, it all makes sense. But in the chemical industry, there's always this kind of funny thing where your suppliers or your customers or your partners and it can get a little complicated. So how do you navigate that landscape where you're partnering with a company with this on one hand, where on another hand they might be your competitor, or they might be your customer, or they might be your supplier? How do you navigate that complex web of relationships?

Leticia Gonçalves:

I completely agree and I think you're touching very cool elements. So first, when you start talking to potential partners or players in the industry about this, we are talking to the ones that are open to these new ways of bringing new solutions to the world that are going to be better for people, better for the planet where they're looking to their own business and say, "I need to look into even disrupting myself with new solutions and not be afraid of that disruption."

So for the ones that are open to that kind of self disruption, if we were to put that way, we are having conversations and say how we create a bigger value of the pie, where we create an end. It's all about choices, and new solutions is not about a straight replacement for everything. I don't believe everything will become biodegradable, renewable. It's going to be a combination of many solutions, some of them still being fossil fuels, some of them being renewable and sustainable with nature-based inspire solutions like DEB.

By having those conversations, we start by sharing a joint vision. In fact, we start those partnerships building a shared vision together. What do we want to accomplish and what is the value creation that together we want to build in this market? And what are things that are going to be new solutions that don't exist today? What are things that are potential replacement for some incumbents? And we want to discuss how we achieve that without completely disrupting the market overnight.

By having those conversations, we stop that feeling of competition. In fact, we start aligning on how we can do this together and achieve a bigger pie for all. And then we start also talking about how we co-create with customers, with policymakers, with the industry as a whole. So we understand a little bit the overall external environment, not just the relationship between the two partners, but who else we need to invite to the party. What are the industry associations that need to be part of this? How we go together and shape policy and regulation, and how we bring customers.

In many cases, we have five-party discussions with the partner and their customers to make sure that they are part of the journey from the beginning. So all of that becomes the opportunity on the partnership is bigger than the fear of being disrupted, of fear of competition because we both are relying on a better vision for the future, starting with what we can do together to change the world for a better world and then what it means to create value together and I was sharing a piece of that value.

So I think that's how we approach the conversation. In many cases, it works because we are not coming trying to take all the vet ourselves or trying to be too strong in that partnership. It's really inviting others to participate in a two-way street and starting with the share value of principles and what you want to achieve together.

Vincent Valk:

So you're almost trying to create what an economist would call a positive sum interaction.

Leticia Gonçalves:

Yeah.

Vincent Valk:

That makes a lot of sense.

Leticia Gonçalves:

Creating new markets together. It's creating a better world and new markets together and shaping by combining science, scale and collaboration. Think about this, IFF brings the science, we have tremendous know-how and obviously protector IP with great science, and then we connect with the scale and collaboration with partners. Together, deliver sustainable solutions that can shape standards for the industry. So science, scale and collaboration are the key answers on how we make this happen.

Vincent Valk:

Got it. So we want to close out here with a couple kind of broader questions about biomaterials. And first, I'll ask this. Biomaterials have been seen as a key part of the industry's future for a long time and while there have been some advances, I think there is a sense that it's generally come up short. Considering the challenges that we've seen in the scale up and adoption of biomaterials, can you make the case for broad optimism in the sector, especially beyond some kind of niche applications where there maybe has been more development?

Leticia Gonçalves:

It's a great question. Biomaterials have long been viewed as the future, and I'm hearing this for decades now. And while some progress has been seen, they haven't been mature enough. Their look needs to be increasingly positive, not just for niche applications because so far, even startups, venture backed companies or PE-backed companies trying to innovate in this space or solid large companies that are trying to also bring inspired nature-based products directly from the farm into biomaterials, those are just part of the answer.

And unfortunately, the market hasn't evolved from niche applications to mainstream large scale applications. The key shift right now is that sustainable materials are achieving a large scale commercial adoption phase with evolving technologies, with the regulatory and policymaking space, adopting those technologies for the future in terms of regulatory approval. The cost of scalability, the unique economics are becoming favorable and more and more partners and companies are becoming more open to this market shift.

So I would say while in the past it was just a dream, it was almost a mission and a purpose from companies. I see now this innovation ecosystem joining hands and really connecting technology, scalability, commercial adoption with an environment in terms of policymaking and regulators that are now making this innovation ecosystem happen. And when technologies like DEB move beyond pilot programs into mainstream categories such as laundry care, they demonstrate that sustainability and performance can coexist at scale.

There is no compromise. When sustainability and performance and cost can coexist at scale, that's where we are going to really move into this future opportunity to really make biomaterials to become more real for high volume, high scale products. So the success really matters because it creates almost like a repo effect across the industry.

And by the way, I know we didn't talk about the commercial products because for me, a proof point on this, DEB is already commercial. A major CPG company has launched a new laundry detergent using DEB to replace non-biodegradable ingredients with a readily biodegradable alternatives. So it's already in the market, so it's proven and it's one of the largest CPG companies in this space that launched this project with our technology and is telling us very good feedback about the performance and continues talking about growing with this technology in the next few years.

Vincent Valk:

CPG, that's consumer products group companies, is that what you were referring to?

Leticia Gonçalves:

Correct. Consumer products.

Vincent Valk:

Yeah. Consumer products, yeah. I want to pull something out of that comment before I move into my last question here is you said that the unit economics are becoming more favorable. Do you have any kind of data or anecdotes on that, that could shed some light here? Because to me that does seem like something that we're moving in that direction, that will be really important. I think about the story of solar cells, which have come down massively in cost over the past 15, 20 years. If at least certain biomaterials could actually start doing that, then maybe we could really be in business.

Leticia Gonçalves:

I'll not be able to share with you is specific because it's so specific by application, by product and formulation and what you call costing use on the finished product solution. So I don't want to give you any specific numbers today. At the same time, what I can tell you in those examples that I use, I'll use two portfolios that are commercial today. The Lyrature portfolio, which are clean ingredients built on DEB technology that deliver enhanced softness and cleaning performance in laundry care. The product in fact is driving better performance at a very cost competitive price. So it's even higher value at a cost home competitive price in the formulation.

Another example is the Nuvolve portfolio. It's an industrial grade material based on what you call alpha-1,3-glucan also created using DEB technology that is now using applications like paper coatings and food contact materials. Same thing, better or higher performance at competitive cost into those finished formulations, finished product formulations on how the product is applied in terms of its final use.

So we will not be successful with those new portfolios that I just mentioned if they were not cost competitive. And for us, we don't even launch or promote products or applications that don't meet those three criteria. Performance, sustainability, unique economics and cost in use. So whatever is commercial today has crossed all those checks and that's why this is so important for the industry.

That's why so many biomaterials have faced failure in the past because they didn't even have the technology performance, the product performance was not there or the cost was not there. If you miss one of those two, you'll not be successful commercially. So we were very grateful with all the efforts in the last decade or so with DEB to be able to now get into a place that we have all those checks marked and performance sustainability and commercial scalability are becoming part of our success today and into the future as we accelerate our adoption to other categories.

Vincent Valk:

Great. And finally, you've talked about the need for regulatory and policy support. What kinds of support do you think are necessary and how can that support be best designed to avoid pitfalls such as politicization and interest group capture?

Leticia Gonçalves:

That's a great question. If we don't have a regulatory system that supports early adoption innovation, nothing matters. All the conversations we had so far will not be able to pursue into commercial adoption and success. So we advocate for positive regulation that supports early adoption of innovation. Policy must be science-based and collaborative, avoiding things to get politicized and enabling long-term market transformation on a sustainable way. And for me, there are three key factors of success. One is innovation incentives, rent subsidies, tax credits around the technologies that can really empower companies of all sizes, small, medium, and large size to bring new solutions to the market.

Second is economic mechanisms such as taxations of high impact incumbents or financial support for proven novel technologies that can accelerate early adoption. And third, public and private collaboration that can ensure that innovation is not only develop but also valorized and monetized.

The examples that I used before, how even partnerships that we are doing between IFF and commercial partners. And then to gather with the industry associations and with the government and the industry as a whole, how we can really shape the market to be able to create the value and monetize on that value.

Again, innovation incentives, economic mechanisms and public-private collaboration are the key to success. And IFF is actively engaging with regulators and policymakers on a constant basis through our direct and also industry associations contribution to help build frameworks that really enable that innovation sustainability that can go hand in hand.

Vincent Valk:

Got it. Great. Well, thanks very much for your time, Leticia.

Leticia Gonçalves:

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. It was great talking to you and looking forward to seeing biomaterials and DEB to be even more successful in the future, so I appreciate it.

Vincent Valk:

Great. Thanks again and this is Vincent Valk signing off for Chemical Week.