HLB Genex announced on Friday that its subsidiary GF Fermentech recently unveiled its High-Speed Commercialization-Specialized CDMO Platform at the SynBioBeta 2026 conference in San Jose, California.
SynBioBeta is the world’s leading synthetic biology event, bringing together innovative companies, research institutions, and global investors to share cutting-edge industry trends and explore business partnerships.
At this event, GF Fermentech showcased its core production infrastructure and actively pursued global client acquisition.
GF Fermentech’s Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) presented solutions to bridge the scaling gap that synthetic biology companies face when transitioning from laboratory-scale achievements to large-scale industrial production, offering the most efficient path to commercialization.
The company highlighted its tailored infrastructure, which not only scales up production facilities but also balances the flexibility required for synthetic biology research and development (R&D) with the stability needed for industrial production.
They emphasized their systematic development of pilot and commercial production lines ranging from 1L to 50,000L (about 34 oz to 1.7 million oz), boasting a total fermentation and purification capacity of 160kL.
A key competitive advantage introduced was their data-driven real-time process control technology, which combines in-line spectroscopic analysis (NIR and Raman) with machine learning. This technology allows preemptive control of variables during fermentation and ensures batch-to-batch consistency, guaranteeing perfect reproducibility of high-quality materials at commercial scale.
The company’s capabilities in high-efficiency, ultra-pure downstream processing (DSP) also garnered significant attention at the event.
GF Fermentech aims to cement its position as a global leader in next-generation biomaterials by showcasing its scale-up acceleration capability, which dramatically reduces process times from research to mass production.
Han Jeong-jun, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GF Fermentech, stated that the success of synthetic biology hinges on time-to-market – how quickly we can transform lab innovations into marketable products. Its Living Modified Organism (LMO) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-certified infrastructure and precision control technology will serve as a robust bridge for the global synthetic biology partners, enabling swift and successful market entry, as demonstrated once again at this event.
HLB Genex, formerly known as Genofocus, was established in 2000. The company gained recognition for customizing specialized enzymes used across various industries, from health supplements to cosmetics, semiconductors, and textiles.
They produced industrial enzymes such as catalase for water treatment in semiconductor and textile manufacturing, lactase for premium infant formula and prebiotic production, and protease for collagen cosmetics, driving their growth.
Notably, they developed full-cycle production capabilities using microbial display technology to screen genes, express and modify proteins without cell disruption, and select strains for formulation, establishing themselves as Korea’s leading industrial enzyme producer.
In October last year, they were acquired by HLB Group and rebranded as HLB Genex. Since joining HLB Group, the company has experienced rapid performance growth.
