Alternative Proteins

A synthetic biology perspective

A subset of SynBio - alternative protein (alt proteins) related patents were identified during the hybrid topic modelling stage applied to SynBio EPO patents. The publication year trends are shown in figure 9.1, together with the subset related to enzymes (compositions & genetic engineering, etc.) based patents within the alt protein topic. Publication trends discussed below are based on EP A1/A2 applications.

In figure 9.1, the peak publication figures for SynBio alt proteins occurred in 2023 (315 publications), with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% during 2014-2023. The subset related to enzymes (compositions & genetic engineering, etc.) also peaked in 2023 (36 publications) with a CAGR of 8.7% during 2014-2023. The enzyme related subset represented 18.8% of the total alt protein publications during 2004-2023. The recent evidence suggests strong growth in SynBio based applications for alternative proteins.

The INPADOC legal status breakdown of the SynBio alt proteins subset published during 2014-2023 is shown in figure 9.2.

The INPADOC based legal status stats in figure 9.2 revealed 55% of patents are pending with 22% already granted, reflecting an established and growing field. The legal status data suggests the topic has a large proportion of alive patents (77%) and the high pending proportion (55%) indicating the potential for further growth.

Publication year subtrends

The publication trends for further subtopic areas within the alternative protein topic were investigated; genetic engineering, waste processing & conversion, genetically modified microorganisms (GMOs) and biomass processing & conversion, shown in figure 9.3.

The subtrends reveal growing trendlines for waste and biomass processing and conversion during 2014-2023; waste grew at 9.5% CAGR and biomass at 4.2% CAGR. Waste processing and conversion achieved peak publications in 2023, biomass processing and conversion is now returning to the previous peak in 2011. The use of genetically modified microorganisms for alternative protein production, etc. has grown at 5.5% CAGR during 2014-23, increasing rapidly since 2018. The genetic engineering trendline has oscillated during 2004-2023 which reveals a consistent use of this methodology.

The filing trends for the SynBio alternative protein subset and subtrend areas are shown in figure 9.4. Here we explore the filing or application date of published applications, data is restricted to 2021 due to the potential for an 18 month delay between filing and publication.

In figure 9.4, there exists an increasing trendline for alternative proteins suggesting a strong basis for further growth (12% CAGR during 2012-2021). The processing and conversion of waste and use of genetically modified microorganisms appear to be driving the growth of alternative proteins within SynBio, with increasing trendlines. Further supported by biomass processing and conversion and patent filings related to enzymes (compositions and genetic engineering).

The distribution of the top 20 CPC classification codes is skewed towards food compositions some notable examples include A23V2002/00 (751 publications), A23L33/105 - modifying food nutrition via plant extracts or artificial duplicates (364 publications) and A23J3/227 - meat like textured foods (328 publications), shown in figure 9.5. The class descriptors are manually refined for readability, the counts are cumulative publications and publication year based.

The top 20 CPC class analysis in figure 9.5 reveals alternative protein applications including food technology (A23V2002/00) with recent peak activity in 2022. Meat-like textured foods (A23J3/227) increased by 74.7% year-on-year in 2023, working up of proteins (A23J3/22 & /14) peaked in 2023. There are also multiple areas related to animal feed, for example, A23K10/30 – animal feed from plant or fungal origin which peaked relatively recently in 2020.

Growing areas within SynBio - alt protein: compound annual growth rate (CAGR)

The SynBio alternative protein related CPC classifications were further investigated to identify areas with a positive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to identify trending areas, shown in figure 9.6. The selected classes have a cumulative total above 100 publications (due to the number of candidates) during the publication period and are relevant for SynBio subject matter.

  • Food related
    The analysis carried out in figure 9.6 highlights the fast growing food related CPC classification codes. For example, meat-like textured foods is growing at 41.7% CAGR, proteins from soybean at 40.6% CAGR and vegetable proteins at 31.6% CAGR. Proteins from microorganisms for food is also growing at 20.1% CAGR during the publication period 2014-23. Notable patent examples identified using citing patent counts, top assignees, etc. and within the classes in figure 9.6 include; EP3875592 (MONSANTO) disclosing the use of soybean plant comprising soybean event MON 87708 comprising a nucleotide sequence to produce non-living plant material or a commodity product. EP3628173 (IMPOSSIBLE FOODS) disclosing plant based products that replicate ground meat. EP3430150 (KIVERDI) disclosing microorganisms and bioprocesses converting gaseous C1 containing substrates, such as syngas, renewable H2 combined with CO2, into nutritional and other useful bioproducts.

There is also a subset of classification codes related to animal feed with a CAGR range between 3.9-15.3%. The use of biomass for conversion via fermentation into animal feed has grown at 6.3% CAGR during the publication period.

Growing areas within SynBio - alt protein: average growth rate

The average number of publications during two 5 year publication periods; 2014-18 & 2019-23 are contrasted in figure 9.7. The CPC classification codes within the alt protein topic, related to SynBio and with sufficient publication totals are analysed.

In figure 9.7, working up of proteins for foodstuffs – meat like textured foods (A23J3/227) exhibited one of the fastest average growth rates increasing by more than 6 times to 58 publications per year on average during 2019-23. There is positive growth for modifying food with plant extracts (49 publications per year on average) and bacteria extracts such as probiotics (43 publications per year on average) and similarly the use of vegetable proteins (42 publications on average per year) during 2019-23. Some of the figures identified in figure 9.7 could likely be higher if further specific classification codes were grouped but act as a sufficient proxy to measure their average rate of growth.

SynBio - alt protein: top 30 applicants

The total number of publications for the top 30 SynBio alt protein related applicants are shown in figure 9.8, contrasting the overall publication period (2004-23) with a more recent perspective during 2014-2023.