The Lab of Microbiology at Ghent University hosts a public biobank of 35,000 bacterial isolates and a research biobank of 100,000 isolates, including strains from unique environments such as Antarctica. In addition to offering bacterial isolates from its biobank to industry, the lab provides a broad range of bacterial scientific services.
The Lab of Microbiology asked me to investigate industry interest in new bacterial organisms with unique features available in its research biobank. The study focused on the food, cosmetics, pharma and textile industries.
I combined desk research with one-to-one interviews with European industry players across different market segments. In a follow-up project, I developed a proposal for a potential business model for in-licensing bacterial strains and validated this model through additional one-to-one market interviews.
It was very nice working with Katrien. She kept us updated on every step. Katrien executed the project in the agreed time frame and budget. We are still building on the leads and market information she brought in. Despite the Covid-19 lock down, Katrien succeeded to talk with several of our customers discovering valuable service selections and improvements, which we have been implementing in the meantime. We will not hesitate to count on her services again in the near future.
