Willow Biosciences Inc., a biotechnology company focused on industrial manufacturing of pure, consistent, and sustainable functional ingredients, is collaborating with an unnamed biopharma company to develop new sustainable manufacturing routes to key intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

In a statement, Willow said that its collaboration partner recognized the need to employ more sustainable methods to manufacture intermediates and APIs at reduced cost and less waste and sought Willow’s expertise in developing and scaling key ingredients. The initial program will focus on the feasibility of developing a biobased pathway and, if successful, advance development toward implementation at commercial scale.

The development phase of this funded collaboration is expected to last approximately two months. 

“We are honored to have been selected by such a forward-thinking biopharmaceutical company to jointly explore innovative pathways toward the development of sustainably sourced intermediates and APIs,” said Chris Savile, Willow’s President & CEO. “If successful, we believe that by leveraging biobased routes, these ingredients essential for human health can be made more broadly available while providing a solution for overseas supply chain issues that can increase cost and potentially create shortages.”