Acquisition taps into the unknown treasures of the sea

Croda are using marine microbial biodiversity to discover novel actives and materials for applications across all its market sectors.

Screening for new marine-derived functional ingredients and bringing new patented products to the market.

Why Marine Biotechnology?

Much of the biodiversity on land has been mapped, yet this is not the case for the ocean and freshwater ecosystems that represent more than 70% of the Earth’s surface. Within these unmapped ecosystems, the potential for discovery of biological resources capable of generating a wide variety of materials is huge. Oceanic environments experience the greatest extremes of temperature, light and pressure encountered by life. Adaptation to these harsh environments has led to rich marine bio and genetic diversity with potential biotechnological applications related to drug discovery, environmental remediation and industrial processes.

To date, most marine biotechnology developments have been related to drug discovery. Plans for its use in other industries, however, are also being developed, including materials for cosmetic applications. Studies of extremophiles, micro-organisms found in hostile environments that have developed specific survival mechanisms, have led to the development of novel functional ingredients for the cosmetics industry. Croda already offers a skin care ingredient based on a powerful cocktail of UV and temperature-stable enzymes developed from bacteria that live in hot and highly oxidative deep-sea environments.

Successful Collaboration

Croda and Nautilus already have a proven history of successful collaboration, having worked closely together for the past 6 years developing novel materials for applications in skin care, hair care and crop care. Their collaboration has resulted in the discovery of several novel functional materials that are continuing to be developed for specific applications, such as anti-microbial.

Nautilus will be established as a Croda Centre of Innovation for Marine Biotechnology at their existing base at the University of Prince Edward Island, continuing to also work with the University, where an extensive library of dereplicated marine microbes collected and acquired from various regions of the world can be accessed. The acquisition will allow Croda to screen for new marine-derived functional materials for applications across all its interests and bring new patented products to the market.