Celtic Renewables, a biotechnology company, won the CPHI Award for Sustainable Pharma Excellence for its green chemicals used in pharmaceutical manufacturing at CPHI Milan in October. According to CPHI, the company has created a patented and scaled biorefining process to convert low-value waste, such as whisky residues and reject potatoes into bio-based chemicals (eg, bio-acetone, bio-butanol, and bio-ethanol) that can be used by the pharmaceutical industry. PharmTech spoke with Bettina Brierley, the company’s chief commercial officer, to find out more about biosolvents and fermentation performance.

The next phase of commercial plant will target significantly higher yields, but doing so requires development on the strain side. The company currently uses wild strains only that have a tendency to “misbehave” unpredictably. Manipulating the strains may deliver the higher yield points the company is aiming for as it scales up, Brierley explains.

Butanol toxicity, often a limiting factor in this type of fermentation, has not proven to be a major problem, according to Brierley. The company has learned that outcomes depend heavily on the feedstock mix, which currently combines potatoes, whiskey residue, and sugar beet molasses. Getting that balance right is essential to preventing butanol from stalling the fermentation.

Product quality is already strong. The company's bioacetone meets US Pharmacopeia specification. For biobutanol, the main impurity of concern is butyric acid, which is handled through a caustic soda wash implemented at the plant; this removes most of it and brings the product to the specification the pharmaceutical industry requires.

The demonstrator plant at Grangemouth operates under good manufacturing practice (GMP) conditions and has been audited by 3 large pharmaceutical companies, all of whom, Brierley notes, were surprised at how well the operation was running. The commercial plant will likewise operate under GMP. She credits the quality of operations to hiring people with fermentation and distillation experience from the whiskey industry.

About the Speaker

Bettina Brierley is chief commercial officer at Celtic Renewables. Bettina has more than 35 years' experience in the chemical industry, specializing in sales, business development and commercial roles. Having held senior roles at Hoechst AG, Clariant AG and Caldic UK, she has extensive leadership experience across international chemical markets and a track record of building partnerships and driving business performance. Bettina is passionate about advancing low-carbon, circular solutions for both future generations and the chemical industry.