EFKO technology to be used in $500 mln biotech cluster in UAE

MOSCOW. March 4 (Interfax) - Investment in the biotech cluster that will be built in the United Arab Emirates to produce sweet protein using the technology of EFKO Group will total $500 million, the Russian food company said in a press release.

An agreement on the design of the project was signed in Dubai during the Healthy Innovation Conference (HiConf). The cluster will be designed by European engineering companies.

The project involves gradually building three production phases to supply sweet protein to consumers in the UAE and other countries in the Middle East. EFKO recalled that its technology to produce sweet protein (Brazzein) was certified in the UAE in 2023.

"As part of further steps to carry out the project to put sweet protein on the market of the Middle East, an agreement was signed on the design of the largest biotechnology cluster in the world that will produce Brazzein on a commercial scale," EFKO said.

EFKO Group opened an applied research center in Dubai at the end of 2023 at a cost of $3 million. This is the group's first such center in the Middle East, where EFKO opened a headquarters in 2022 to carry out innovative projects. The center includes an R&D center and biotech lab.

EFKO, one of Russia's largest producers of oil and fat products, makes food ingredients used in the confectionary, baking and other sectors of the food industry. The company also produced dairy products, but recently announced the closure of this business and conversion of its facilities to plant-based alternatives intended for export. The group has production facilities in Belgorod, Voronezh, Lipetsk and Sverdlovsk regions, Krasnodar Territory and Kazakhstan that can process over 3.5 million tonnes of oil crops annually.