Spiber is a Japanese biotech startup that designs structural protein materials from the molecular
level, and inexpensively mass produces those materials through a microbial fermentation process.
Currently, the biotech industry is mainly centered around the production of enzymes, ethanol, food
products, medicines, biofuels, and the like. Bioplastics such as PLA and PHA have also been
developed, which resemble petroleum-derived polymers in the sense that they require
polymerization by means of a chemical process. Spiber has developed a platform technology to
create a new class of biomaterials based on proteins, which are tailor-made at the molecular level to
suit users’ specific needs for characteristics such as strength, elasticity, biocompatibility and so on.
The range of properties that proteins can express are far broader than those of petrochemical
polymers and bioplastics, by simply changing the genes that provide the code for each target
protein. Spiber’s industrial material platform is forging a path to a new sector of biomaterials for a
plethora of applications, including lighter, higher performance automotive or aerospace parts,
apparel, implantable medical devices, and more. Spiber learns the requirements of end application
manufacturers through strategic partnerships, designs suitable proteins from the molecular level,
produces them through fermentation, then processes them into various forms such as fibers, resins,
films, gels, sponges, and more, as needed for the end application.