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The Global Market for Marine Biotechnology: The Underwater World of Marine Biotech Firms

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Grand Challenges in Marine Biotechnology

Part of the book series: Grand Challenges in Biology and Biotechnology ((GCBB))

Abstract

Despite the increasing attention that political and institutional spheres are paying to marine biotechnology at a regional, national, and international level, also considering the Blue Growth Strategy in Horizon 2020, the general knowledge about private organizations of this field remains relatively poor. Actually, just a few studies offer an exhaustive picture of the companies developing products and services of both marine and freshwater origin. The authors wish to present an up-to-date analysis of the scientific and institutional literature concerned with the issue. They shall try to define blue biotechnology, and they will present the main markets served and their dynamics. In particular, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, energy, and biochemical industries will be closely considered. Marine industrial sectors, actually, did not follow the same process of growth and show different levels of development. The aim of this chapter is to present the characteristics of the firms involved in blue biotechnology, describing both products and services that reach the final markets and highlighting the ones that are still at a development stage. The authors carried out a first investigation of the organizations belonging to the marine industries through the construction of an original dataset of companies. They analyzed geographical distribution, dimension, main markets served, and production activities of the firms in object. In the conclusions, the authors highlight the central role played by public research centers, the need for cooperation for blue biotechnology organizations in order to reach the final consumer, and the interdependence of research and development phases among the several businesses in which marine biotechnologies find industrial application.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cited in Elvidge S. [1], “Bioprospecting at the poles”, Chemistry and Industry, Natural products, pp. 17–19.

  2. 2.

    Shreeve J. [2], “Craig Venter’s Epic Voyage to Redefine the Origin of the Species”, Wired, August.

  3. 3.

    http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6237

  4. 4.

    EU, DG Internal Policies, “Ocean Research in Horizon 2020: The Blue Growth Potential”, 2015. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/518775/IPOL_STU(2015)518775_EN.pdf

  5. 5.

    cordis.europa.eu/programme/rcn/11852_en.html

  6. 6.

    It is to underline that the term “blue” has a wider meaning with respect to “marine,” as it considers industrial applications also of freshwater organisms. It is to stress, because often blue biotechnology is considered in reports on maritime policies or marine research centers.

  7. 7.

    http://biolume.net/entertainment/

  8. 8.

    http://www.slideshare.net/GlobalIndustryAnalystsInc/marine-biotechnology-a-global-strategic-business-report

  9. 9.

    http://www.smithersrapra.com/market-reports/biomaterials-industry-market-reports/the-future-of-marine-biotechnology-for-industrial

  10. 10.

    http://naturalproducts.pharmaceuticalconferences.com/events-list/marine-biotechnology

  11. 11.

    Ibidem.

  12. 12.

    http://www.bccresearch.com/market-research/pharmaceuticals/marine-derived-pharma-markets-phm101a.html

  13. 13.

    http://www.statista.com/statistics/243953/market-share-of-the-leading-10-beauty-companies-in-the-us/

  14. 14.

    http://www.shuuemura.com/_en/_ww/discover-shu-uemura/shu-uemura-timeline.aspx

  15. 15.

    http://www.biotherm.it/landing?fdid=activeIngredients

  16. 16.

    Cited in Elvidge S. [1], “Bioprospecting at the poles”, Chemistry and Industry, Natural products, pp. 17–19.

  17. 17.

    http://marinepharmacology.midwestern.edu/clinPipeline.htm

  18. 18.

    Quoted in “Thinking Blue: Addressing Today’s Challenges with Marine Biotechnology” (2012), BlueBio Project Report.

  19. 19.

    “Going Commercial. Algenol boosts yields, cuts costs for biofuel production”, Jerry Perkins, Biofuels Journal, 2° trimester 2014.

  20. 20.

    La bolla delle alghe, 9 aprile 2009, Nova, Sole24Ore.

    http://marinepharmacology.midwestern.edu/clinPipeline.htm

  21. 21.

    Defined by the sea: Nova Scotia’s Ocean Technology Sector present and future (2010).

  22. 22.

    Thinking Blue: Addressing Today’s Challenges with Marine Biotechnology (2012), Blue Bio Report.

  23. 23.

    Strategy for the marine biotechnology cluster in Tromso 2012–2015, Biotech North.

  24. 24.

    Seeing Purpose and Profiting Algae, New York Times.

  25. 25.

    BiomassAlternativeEnergy.Availableonlineat:www.prezi.com

  26. 26.

    Keywords were marine biotechnology, marine bioactive compounds, and marine biomaterial (firm, company).

  27. 27.

    What Happened to Biofuels (2013). The Economist, Technology Quarterly n.3, 7 September.

  28. 28.

    http://marinepharmacology.midwestern.edu/clinPipeline.htm

  29. 29.

    Keywords were marine biotechnology, marine bioactive compounds, and marine biomaterial (firm, company). The authors checked all the results of the first 15 pages.

  30. 30.

    www.environmental-expert.com, www.biomarine-resources.com, Algae fuel producers on en.wikipedia.org, www.cleantick.com/companies, www.ethanolproducer.com, biopharmguy.com, biomarine-resources.blogspot.it, www.oilgae.com, www.seao2.com/algaebiofuels, www.algaeu.com

  31. 31.

    https://worldwide.espacenet.com/

  32. 32.

    Patents’ portfolios could be, in some cases, undervalued. For Asian companies this could happen because of the non-perfect dialogue between the patent systems. In the case of start-ups and spin-offs, this could happen because the patents could be registered with the name of the inventor, not by the firm itself (so you lose the information).

  33. 33.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2016/05/25/the-worlds-largest-companies-2016/%23;e3465fdc5524 and http://beta.fortune.com/global500/list

  34. 34.

    18th January 2017, Press Release, available at: http://news.exxonmobil.com/press-release/synthetic-genomics-and-exxonmobil-renew-algae-biofuels-research-agreement

  35. 35.

    Ibidem.

  36. 36.

    http://www.biolume.net/

  37. 37.

    http://www.olmix.com/human-care

  38. 38.

    Many companies have professors, scientists, and researchers that come from different public research centers, for example, and cannot be defined as spin-offs (of one organization). Still, several academics participate in the boards of direction of the firms.

  39. 39.

    An official statistical definition is not still available (NACE codes).

  40. 40.

    http://www.glycomarblog.com/

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Flagship Program “Ritmare” for the financial support. The work is in fact an output of the activity on technology transfer of the project (SP6_WP4_AZ1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. General Services, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy

    Gaia Raffaella Greco

  2. Istituto di Calcolo e Reti ad Alte Prestazioni, Consiglio Nazionale delle ricerche, Naples, Italy

    Gaia Raffaella Greco & Marco Cinquegrani

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  1. Gaia Raffaella Greco
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  2. Marco Cinquegrani
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Correspondence to Gaia Raffaella Greco .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Pabulo H. Rampelotto

  2. Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy

    Antonio Trincone

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Greco, G.R., Cinquegrani, M. (2018). The Global Market for Marine Biotechnology: The Underwater World of Marine Biotech Firms. In: Rampelotto, P., Trincone, A. (eds) Grand Challenges in Marine Biotechnology. Grand Challenges in Biology and Biotechnology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69075-9_8

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