“Alpine Bio Receives Patent for Recombinant Milk Proteins, Advancing Animal-Free Dairy Production”

SAN FRANCISCO, April 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Alpine Bio, a San Francisco-based biology design company and the driving force behind the molecular farming movement, has announced a significant breakthrough in the field of animal-free dairy production. The company, also the creator of Nobell Foods, an animal-free dairy brand, has been issued a new patent titled “Recombinant Milk Proteins and Food Compositions Comprising the Same.”

This achievement marks a significant step forward in making animal-free dairy products more accessible and appealing to consumers. Alpine Bio’s team of scientists has successfully overcome numerous technical challenges to express casein, the primary protein in milk that gives cheese its melt and stretch, in plants. This innovative technology brings Nobell Foods one step closer to its mission of unlocking a new era of animal-free products that do not compromise on taste, quality, or affordability.

“Today we celebrate the breakthroughs our company has made over the last few years to reimagine the future of food in a way that positively impacts the climate, agriculture and our food system at large,” said Magi Richani, Alpine Bio founder and CEO. “This milestone not only reflects our strides in science-backed technology, but also brings us closer to delivering a sustainable and delicious product to market.”

The patent, which is the tenth for the company, focuses on dairy food compositions containing plant-expressed recombinant casein proteins. It demonstrates Alpine Bio’s progress in replicating the production of traditional animal-based dairy products in a plant system. This strengthens Alpine Bio’s robust IP portfolio and further underscores the company’s innovative approach to revolutionizing the future of food with cheese produced without animals.

“Cheese is one of the most loved foods in the modern diet, and yet it is one of the worst offenders in terms of its climate impact,” said Chris Rivest, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “Magi and her team have developed a transformative way to produce dairy-identical proteins in plants to create stretchy, gooey, delicious cheese that consumers love, but made from plants—it is simply amazing.”

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued U.S. Patent No. 11,952,606 on April 9, 2024, protecting Alpine Bio’s milk protein production technology. This proprietary technology enables high and consistent production of milk proteins in plants, greatly outperforming first-generation expression of casein and making the resulting animal-free products more cost competitive against traditional dairy products.

Alpine Bio is a biology design company that is accelerating the evolution of plants. The company’s proprietary biomanufacturing platform harnesses plant intelligence to create highly efficient protein factories. Its first product, an animal-free Mozzarella cheese from Nobell Foods, is planning to launch via tastings in 2025.

Nobell Foods, an animal-free dairy brand, is creating the world’s first cheese from plant-grown casein. The brand is on a path to unlock a new age of animal-free products where taste, quality, and affordability are widely accessible.

For more information about Alpine Bio and Nobell Foods, please visit www.alpbio.com and www.nobellfoods.com respectively.

Contact: Maude Michel, [email protected]

SOURCE Nobell Foods