Genedata to Streamline Biotalys’ Innovative Protein-Based Food Protection R&D

Biotalys, an innovative AgTech company focused on reinventing food protection by developing novel antibody-inspired biocontrols, will partner with Genedata to increase throughput and reduce R&D costs

March 18, 2021
Basel, Switzerland

Genedata, the leading provider of enterprise software solutions for biologics R&D, today announced that Biotalys, a rapidly growing agricultural technology (AgTech) company based in Belgium and the U.S., has chosen Genedata Biologics^® and Genedata Bioprocess^® to support R&D efforts to generate protein-based solutions to protect crops against plant pests and diseases. The Genedata platform will serve as the digital backbone for Biotalys’ AGROBODY Foundry™ technology, which has the potential to generate safe and innovative biocontrols to address key food and crop challenges in a sustainable way.

“Searching for a new R&D digital platform, we shortlisted several vendors but only Genedata’s platform included out-of-the-box business logic for protein screening, engineering, and production and this is what won it for us,” said Patrice Sellès, Ph.D., CEO of Biotalys. “Genedata’s platform provides all critical R&D workflows right in the system – for example for high-throughput sequence processing and assessment. A key goal at Biotalys is to have fully integrated, end-to-end workflow management, so we’re really looking forward to using Genedata to streamline processes and help us make transparent and fully informed R&D decisions.”

Biotalys is developing AGROBODY™ biocontrols inspired by single-domain antibody molecules. AGROBODY™ biocontrols are designed to specifically bind to essential target molecules and retain the high specificity of IgG antibodies, but are remarkable due to their small size, high affinity, and straight-forward manufacturability. From an environmental point of view, AGROBODY™ biocontrols offer significant safety and sustainability advantages over conventional chemicals currently used in the food protection market, providing new tools for growers and the food industry to better fight against key diseases, pests, and bacteria. The Biotalys technology has the potential to generate AGROBODY™ biocontrols that provide novel modes of action, highly needed to manage resistance and maintain yield while decreasing the need for chemical pesticides.

Biotalys chose the Genedata platform as their central digital backbone to increase R&D efficiency and drive data-based decision-making. Unlike ELN-based solutions that require extensive customization before deployment, the Genedata platform includes ready-to-go workflows for use from the start across the entire Biotalys organization. Having all data centrally available across all Biotalys’ divisions and geographies makes it possible to track all information for each molecule, sample, or process, which in turn further reduces the investment risk of moving the wrong molecules forward.

“The AgTech industry is driving dramatic change in agriculture and food production with the development of cutting-edge crop protection approaches and the digitalization of R&D. We are excited to be working with Biotalys, an innovative company developing safer and sustainable biologics-based approaches to disease and pest control,” said Othmar Pfannes, Ph.D., CEO of Genedata. “We are committed to driving efficiencies not only in biopharma R&D but across AgTech and other life science-based industries as they digitalize their R&D processes.”