Biotechnology investment/BoI

Chatrudee Theparat

The Board of Investment (BOI) approved the investment promotion of BBGI Firmbox Bio Co's project, a joint venture between BBGI and Fermbox Bio from India, claiming as the first large-scale in the ASEAN.

The project manufactures enzymes for industry, developing from lab scale to commercial-scale which will help upgrade the country's BCG upstream industry, according to Narit Terdsteerasakdi, BoI's secretary-general.

The Firmbox Bio Company, based in India, is an expert in synthetic biology (Synbio) which expands production capacity to commercial production (Lab-to-launch). The company establishes a biotechnology factory that uses precision fermentation technology to produce cellulosic enzymes for industrial use.

Narit Terdsteerasakdi

Expanding its scale from the laboratory and pilot plant to the commercial is considered as the first large-scale advanced biotechnology factory in the ASEAN region. With an initial production capacity of 200,000 liters, consisting of two large 100,000 liter fermentation tanks, is more than two times the size of India.

The company aims to increase the total production capacity to one million liters in the next phase, with an initial investment of 440 million baht. The factory is located in Chachoengsao province, and most of the raw materials will be used domestically.

Cellulosic enzyme is an enzyme that helps digest and convert cellulose in biomass waste such as wood chips, rice straw, cassava pulp and bagasse into glucose which can be extended to produce a variety of biological products such as bioplastics, biochemicals, bio proteins, bio-fuel jet fuel (SAF), etc.

The company has a plan to expand production to other synthetic biology products (Synbio) for use in the food and health supplement industry,. Cosmeceuticals and energy is in the next phase of its plan.

In addition, the company has conducted a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to create cooperation on biotechnology and genetic engineering to the research institute of Chulalongkorn University. MoU purpose is to scale up technology production on biological processes from the laboratory and pilot plant to the commercial scale.

“The project is the first investment in ASEAN. It enhances Thailand's potential in biodiversity thanks to itsreadiness of raw materials infrastructure and personnel. This project will help upgrade the upstream industry in biotechnology. The research development will assist to scale up the research to the industrial level. It also plays an important role in driving the economic model, bio-circular -green ( BCG) economy which Thailand aims to be a bio-hub of the ASEAN region,” Mr. Narit said.