XPure returns to Delft’s native soil

Back to the familiar nest. Last summer, technology provider XPure moved to Planet B.io at the Biotech Campus Delft. In doing so, it returned to its native soil. With its patented  purification technology for biotech companies, chemical companies and the food industry, XPure helps enabling the transition to a bio-based economy. Planet B.io is the ideal starting point for this, says director René Nanninga: “Planet B.io is an inspiring environment and unique scientific business community.”

Continuous chromatography. That’s where it all started over two decades ago on the campus of Delft University of Technology. A group of scientists was  working on this specific purification technology to better separate components. It was the beginning of a bio-based success story. “The expertise was noticed and incorporated by a pharmaceutical consultancy firm in Leiden. The technology was further developed for bio-pharmaceutical applications, and eventually sold. Meanwhile, after a number of mergers and acquisitions, we are an autonomous brand within ProPharmaGroup,” Nanninga looks back. That autonomous brand named XPure, based in Delft, now focuses on the bio-based chemical companies and the food industry. 

Complex subjects is everyday fare

XPure enables industries, such as the chemical and food industries, to work in a cleaner and more sustainable manner. For example, by using innovative  technology, valuable materials are extracted from side streams or fermentation processes. XPure ensures that these processes are technically and  economically feasible or optimized. 

The patented technology used to achieve this may not seem like everyday fare to most of us. But in a way, it is. “The technology is used for sugars and plant proteins, but also for food supplements such as amino acids. We for example help to make a plant-based meat substitute taste as good as possible,” Nanninga explains enthusiastically. 

Planet A and Planet B.io

It is no coincidence that Nanninga cites the example of meat substitutes. XPure is convinced that the chemicals and nutrients of the future will be sustainably manufactured from plant-based raw materials. “The future is bio-based. We only have one planet, Planet A, and we have to treat it carefully.” 

The decision to work from Planet B.io to preserve our Planet A came after a visit to the Biotech Campus Delft. “We came here for a seminar and saw the innovative power, hub function and facilities of the campus for ourselves. Biotech knowledge and innovation gathered in one place, there is an enormous positive power emanating from that.” Nanninga decided to move the activities from Leiden back to Delft and does not regret it for a second. “The lines of communication are short at Planet B.io. This is important, because working together creates opportunities and accelerates the transition to a sustainable, bio-based economy.”