Megatrends

Consumer-facing companies need to enhance consumer trust in their brands, so are looking for ingredients that enable them to deliver products with proven, substantiated claims and transparent, assured information on their social and environmental footprints. Sustainable ingredients must have a low footprint in terms of the carbon, water and resources used in their manufacture, and should also contribute to enabling consumers to live more sustainably.

Growing consumer demand for sustainable ingredients is driving increased regulation by industry and national authorities. For example, there are now very few countries in the world without cosmetic legislation and an increasing number of countries also have chemical regulations in place, with many more set to adopt chemical legislation in the coming years. Increasingly widespread and thorough legislation is providing a higher threshold for approval for new ingredients while increasing consumer confidence about the footprint and sustainability benefits of the products they buy.

The move to sustainable ingredients is not confined to consumer markets. Not only do crop science companies want biodegradable ingredients with a low carbon footprint, they also need innovative ingredients that make a positive contribution to improving yields, soil health and biodiversity. Alongside more sustainable chemistry, biotechnology can be a highly sustainable route for creating new and existing molecules that have applications in high growth markets of today and the future. Designed correctly, biotechnology will enable ongoing performance innovation, facilitate ingredient footprint reduction, and support the transformation to bio-based ingredients.

Biologic drugs mimic closely our body’s biology and are much better at treating disease in a targeted way with fewer side effects. But they are complex molecules that are hard to make, difficult to keep stable, and need sophisticated delivery systems. They are also difficult to administer and are normally injected because otherwise they would be destroyed by stomach acid when swallowed.

The nucleic acid revolution that we are now witnessing, best illustrated by the global roll out of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines for COVID-19, is the next phase in the move to biologics. It is creating an incredible number of opportunities because nucleic acids teach the body to create its own medicine. This is a fundamental shift in the complexity of new drugs and in their value – both in terms of patient outcomes and commercial opportunities for pharmaceutical companies.

Although crop science is some years behind, it is also experiencing a transformation to biologically active ingredients. For example, naturally occurring microbes act as fertilisers for plants but have yet to be exploited systematically to raise crop yields. The nucleic acid revolution is also making new approaches possible in agriculture. For example, ribonucleic acid (RNA) interference could be used as a precisely targeted, environmentally friendly pesticide, by preventing the production of a critical molecule in the body of a specific pest.

The ability for these biologics to target specific elements in the host offers a significant opportunity to reduce negative impacts on the planet and society. Increased targeting means reduced overall dosage, less unintended side effects and fewer resources to produce the same benefits. Novel performance means new approaches such as improved vaccination to both prevent and cure diseases, and regenerative agriculture that leverages the power of nature.