Berlingske reports on UNIK industry partner Evolva

Berlingske Business discusses Evolva's research on creating biosynthetic versions of two of the world most expensive spices, vanilla and saffron.

While the Danish company's Swiss headquaters focus on the pharmaceutical industry, it is in Copenhagen where the firm's biggest draw lies, reports Berlingske in an article publsihed 12.04.12.

Drawing on the growth of the food industry in developing markets, Evolva hopes to synthetically develop new and more accessible versions of vanilla and saffron using traditional baking yeast.

Though Evolva suffered a financial deficit in 2011, Head of UNIK Synthetic Biology Birger Lindberg Møller belives that closer collaboration between the private and public sectors can further encourage such scientific developments. 

"One explanation (for the loss) is that the new biotech companies are typically forced to let go of the connection to universities too early. This is to avoid suspicions of confusion between private economy and public finance or because of simple lack of space in universities," says Birger Lindberg Møller.

Read the full article here (in Danish).