Penrhos Bio
Passionate about harnessing the power of nature to combat harmful biofilms.
About Penrhos Bio
Formed as a company in 2019 jointly by Unilever and Innova Partnerships, Penrhos Bio is commercialising a novel technology inspired by Nature and the Biology of the Oceans. This has been developed and optimised by Unilever and its research partners over the past 12 years.
Penrhos Bio's mission is to develop truly innovative and sustainable products which are active in solving bacterial and microbial biofilm challenges across consumer, healthcare, and industry environments.
Their vision is a world free of harmful biofilms.
The Penrhos Team
The team has extensive experience in technology development, commercialisation, and company building. It includes two directors from Unilever, one of whom is the R&D Director – Biotechnology & Biosourcing at Unilever and behind most of the patents for the technology.
Penrhos Bio R&D activities are supported by the Unilever team based at the Materials Innovation Factory (MIF), at the University of Liverpool. This team has extensive anti-biofilm expertise and world-leading resources to help accelerate the Penrhos Bio product development cycle with their commercial partners.
The Problem Penrhos Are Solving
Some microbes such as bacteria are able to collaborate to form ‘communities’ on a surface within a protective matrix called a biofilm.
Many biofilms are harmful, resulting in shedding of bacteria, infections in people and animals and even accelerating the erosion and destruction of surfaces such as concrete and steel.
Within a biofilm, microbes are exceptionally resilient and present a tremendous obstacle to intervention (cleaning & eradication).
The Solution
Learning from the natural biology of the oceans and with the support of Unilever and its research partners, Penrhos Bio has developed a novel and sustainable solution to harmful biofilms.
Their platform technology solution is based on the natural way in which the red seaweed Delisea Pulchra has evolved a sophisticated chemical defence mechanism against microbial contamination.