NEW TECH FOODS

Biomaterials developer Marine Biologics has entered into an exclusive partnership with Molecular Quantum Solutions (MQS) to accelerate the discovery and commercialisation of next-generation, seaweed-derived functional ingredients and biomaterials.

Under the agreement, Marine Biologics will act as the sole commercialisation partner for MQS' physics-based modeling and machine learning technologies as applied to marine bioproducts. The deal integrates MQS’s Cebule physics engine – which combines quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics and graph neural networks – into Marine Biologics’ AI-driven ingredient discovery platform, MacroLink.

By combining Cebule’s computational capabilities with MacroLink’s marine biochemical data, the companies aim to shorten discovery timelines from years to months, cutting costs while developing new clean-label solutions for food, cosmetics and sustainable materials. Target applications include protein stabilisers, natural egg replacements, baking texturants, bioactives and biopolymers for packaging.

The global market for clean functional ingredients – valued at $121 billion – is under pressure to replace petrochemicals and other unsustainable inputs. The two companies say their partnership combines MQS’s computational expertise with Marine Biologics’ experience in marine-derived ingredients and scale-up, aiming to overcome long development cycles and challenges in commercialisation.

Marine Biologics CEO Patrick Griffin said: “The same wave of verticalised AI that is transforming finance, law and drug discovery is now reaching food and materials. Its application will unlock sustainable materials innovation by eliminating the high cost and long timelines that have historically prevented clean, functional bioproducts from entering the mass market."

"Our exclusive partnership with MQS integrates a cutting-edge computational backbone directly into MacroLink so we can launch new ingredients faster, more reliably, and at a fraction of the traditional cost.”

MQS CEO Mark Jones added: “We have always understood that our quantum chemistry and quantum computing algorithms for the pharma and life science industries has also a major impact on innovation in segments like food, cosmetics and biomaterials. Our partnership with Marine Biologics provides rapid, real world validation for molecular innovation in the marine chemical space.”