Canada’s Pinnacle Food Group has signed an MoU to explore establishing an Open Yeast Platform hub for precision fermentation in Hong Kong.
Days after developing a breakthrough fermentation process to create recombinant whey proteins, Canadian biotech firm Pinnacle Food Group’s Hong Kong division is exploring a new open-source hub for yeast innovation.
Pinnacle Food Agtech HK has signed a non-binding MoU with the Open Yeast Collection and Canadian biotech advisory company Bioboost Synbio Consulting, establishing a preliminary framework for the development of an Open Yeast Platform hub at the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park.
Through the move, Pinnacle Food Group is looking to curate, localise and distribute synthetic biology tools to the broader yeast research community and promote scientific advancement and collaboration.
Open-access platform will combine DNA tools and yeast strains
Pinnacle Food Group is focused on smart agriculture and engineering, driven by a “dual-engine” strategy that combines advanced farming-as-a-service solutions with cutting-edge precision fermentation and synbio platforms to help transition to a sustainable food system.
It already has a research collaboration with BioBoost, through which the company access the Pichia strain of microbes it uses to develop animal-free proteins.
The Open Yeast Collection was developed by Open Science Network Society co-founder Scott Pownall in 2021 and is described as an open-source collection of DNA parts for assembling genetic constructs in yeast strains, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Komagataella phaffii (formerly Pichia pastoris).
This collection provides anyone with access to a robust toolkit for building new metabolic pathways or producing yeast-derived enzymes and proteins. Its current library comprises hundreds of valuable DNA assembly parts to support yeast-based synbio and biotech research.
It would form the first part of the Open Yeast Platform in Hong Kong. The second is the Open Yeast Strain Bank, an open-access, growing library of yeast strains accessible by researchers globally.
Both the DNA tools and the strains will be released under an Open Material Transfer Agreement (OpenMTA) framework, and as part of the collaboration, Bioboost will leverage its strategic consulting and technical integration expertise to facilitate the regional deployment of the platform.
Pinnacle Food Group looks to strengthen position in Asia’s biotech ecosystem
The open-source model can be a catalyst in advancing the alternative protein category. The Bezos Earth Fund has backed projects by the Australian national research agency CSIRO, the UK’s University of Leeds, and Stanford University to develop open-access AI platforms for sustainable proteins.
Meanwhile, later this year, Tufts University is set to launch a food innovation hub featuring an open-source cell bank for cultivated meat research.
Pinnacle Food Group chose the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park location since it’s a “strategic border-zone” uniquely positioned to leverage the technological and regulatory advantages of Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.
Its CEO, Jiulong You, said the MoU “aligns perfectly” with the company’s dual-engine approach: “By facilitating open-source collaboration through the OpenMTA framework, we look forward to contributing to the global synthetic biology community and building a robust network of research and industry partners around our operations in Hong Kong.”
Pinnacle Food Group also believes the initiative could enhance its strategic position within Asia’s rapidly growing bio-engineering space. By lowering barriers to entry for yeast-based research, it expects to attract synergistic partnerships and accelerate its overarching B2B strategy to bring high-value bio-based products to market.
The final decision on the hub’s establishment and its exact scope of operations remains subject to the execution of the agreements between the three entities, as well as customary regulatory and operational reviews.
“We believe this ecosystem has the potential to serve as a catalyst for future innovations and commercial opportunities in precision fermentation,” said You.
The startup recently developed the first generation of a yeast strain to produce recombinant human lactoferrin, a high-value, iron-binding glycoprotein, via a methanol-free precision fermentation method. This mitigates severe fire hazards, cuts operational costs, and ensures zero toxic residue – all key factors for high-purity infant nutrition and pharmaceutical applications.
