Jennewein Biotechnologie acquires the former facilities of Arthus Mineralspring Company in Bad Hönningen, Germany, to expand its current production levels of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs).
“We have been searching for some time for a suitable location to establish an integrated HMO fermentation and recovery plant close to our current facility in Rheinbreitbach,” states Dr Stefan Jennewein, CEO and co-founder, Jennewein Biotechnologie.
“With the expansion of our HMO portfolio and the development of our HMO Mix product, we need at least five new fermentation and recovery lines” adds Benedikt Engels, Chief Operation Officer, Jennewein Biotechnologie. “With the new plant, we will be able to produce additional HMOs, expanding our current portfolio of two products (2-fucosyllactose and lacto-N-neotetraose) to include five more (3-fucosyllactose, difucosyllactose, lacto-N-tetraose, 6-sialyllactose and 3-sialyllactose).”
The new integrated facility will combine fermentation and recovery, and will yield spray-dried HMO products. Jennewein Biotechnologie plans to build separate production lines for the manufacture for each of the new HMO products. “With fermenters of more than 200m3 each, the new plant will become one of the largest fermentation facilities in central Europe,” adds Stephan Michel, Chief Financial Officer, Jennewein Biotechnologie.
Jennewein Biotechnologie is a leading international industrial biotechnology company with a range of products in the field of complex oligosaccharides (HMOs) and rare monosaccharides. The company manufactures an extensive portfolio of innovative HMO products, such as 2-fucosyllactose, 3-fucosyllactose and lacto-N-tetraose. These rare sugars are used in the food industry (particularly infant milk formulas), the pharmaceutical industry and the cosmetic industry.
The manufacturing process involves state-of-the-art fermentation techniques. In 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Jennewein Biotechnologie a license to market 2-fucosyllactose in the USA. This was followed in 2017 by European Union marketing authorisation under the Novel Food Regulation.