Abolis Biotechnologies launches MINE microbial intelligence platform for fermentation R&D

French biotech firm Abolis Biotechnologies has launched a microbial intelligence platform that it says can help food and nutrition manufacturers accelerate the development of fermentation-derived ingredients and reduce trial-and-error in R&D, according to a report published by Food Ingredients First on 1 October 2026.

The Microbial INtelligence Explorer (MINE) platform combines genomic and multi-omics data with experimental and industrial insight to help companies make more targeted decisions across product innovation and scale-up. For ingredient developers, the platform is designed to help R&D teams identify which microorganisms and process parameters are most promising before investing time and resources in extensive lab work.

Sylvia Julien, general manager of the MINE business unit at Abolis, identified the core challenge the platform aims to address as the gap between generating large volumes of microbial data and extracting actionable direction from it. Microbial biotechnology companies struggle with integrating the various pieces of information and, according to Julien, "therefore, to know which signals matter and which hypotheses deserve further testing for product development." She added that "MINE gives teams a clearer way to navigate that complexity, helping them focus experimental work on the questions most likely to move a program forward."

According to the source, MINE was developed through Microbiome Studio, a machine learning-enabled analytical platform created as part of the French government-supported Metapath industrial program. Microbiome Studio was initially developed for Abolis' own microbial biotechnology projects before being refined through collaborations with industrial partners, and later evolved into MINE as a dedicated platform for external R&D and open-innovation teams.

Cyrille Pauthenier, co-founder and CEO of Abolis, said the platform release brings together the company's accumulated expertise within a single tool. "It strengthens Abolis' ability to support decisions before, during, and beyond experimentation, connecting biological evidence with the realities of validation, process development, and scale up," he said, adding that "for our partners, that means a clearer route from microbial potential to an industrially relevant program."

With the launch, Abolis says it is extending its "ideation-to-scale model" by connecting microbial intelligence with its existing capabilities in strain engineering, enzyme modeling, fermentation, bioprocess development, and scale-up support. The company positions MINE as a tool to support the development of new ingredients, biotics, fermentation-derived compounds, and other bio-based solutions.

The launch comes as the broader industry increases its focus on data-driven approaches to fermentation. Food Ingredients First noted that Sensient unveiled fermentation technologies aimed at improving culture yields and process efficiency in the prior month, and that Tetra Pak recently launched an industrial bioreactor for fermentation-derived ingredients to improve process stability, repeatability, and scale-up from pilot production to commercial manufacturing.