New Wave Biotech, CPI partner to transform lipid extraction with AI-powered simulation
Solvent-based extraction methods currently dominate the market, but they involve the use of toxic and flammable chemicals that necessitate energy-intensive recovery processes.
UK – New Wave Biotech has partnered with CPI, the UK’s national translational research and innovation organization, to tackle one of industrial biotechnology’s most persistent challenges — lipid extraction.
The collaboration will integrate CPI’s expertise in downstream processing with New Wave Biotech’s hybrid AI-powered simulation platform to optimize both solvent and non-solvent extraction techniques.
The goal is to enhance scalability, cost efficiency, and sustainability across industries that rely on lipid-based ingredients.
The partnership comes at a crucial time as global demand for lipids continues to rise across food, feed, cosmetics, and healthcare.
Lipids play a vital role in products such as baked goods, chocolate, pharmaceuticals, and personal care items.
In the UK, food prices have increased by 5.1% over the past year, according to the Office for National Statistics, underscoring the need to develop more efficient and affordable production systems.
Lipid extraction has long been a complex and expensive bottleneck in biomanufacturing.
Solvent-based extraction methods currently dominate the market, but they involve the use of toxic and flammable chemicals that necessitate energy-intensive recovery processes.
In contrast, non-solvent methods offer safer and cleaner alternatives but often lack consistency and economic feasibility.
These limitations have hindered the development of sustainable substitutes for materials such as palm oil, cocoa butter, and animal fats.
Through this collaboration, New Wave Biotech’s AI-driven platform will allow CPI to conduct thousands of virtual simulations, testing variables such as performance, cost, and environmental impact before any physical trials.
This data-driven approach minimizes trial-and-error, accelerates development timelines, and helps identify the most efficient extraction routes.
Nix Hall, CTO of New Wave Biotech, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, “We’re excited to work with CPI to optimize lipid bioprocesses, which are essential for scaling the next generation of sustainable products. By combining predictive accuracy with techno-economic and sustainability insights, our platform helps innovators move faster towards affordable, accessible solutions.”
Stephen Wright, Manager of Downstream Processing at CPI, added that the partnership enhances CPI’s capacity to help clients scale sustainable production.
“Unlike many AI tools that need huge datasets, this platform achieves high accuracy from minimal data, allowing us to identify optimal downstream routes much earlier and with greater confidence.”
Supported by an Innovate UK grant under the UKRI National Engineering Biology Programme, the project marks a significant step toward bridging digital and biological innovation.
If successful, the collaboration could unlock faster, cleaner, and more cost-effective lipid production, strengthening the UK’s position in sustainable biotechnology.
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