Monday 4th August 2025, 12:59pm
Gluten-free products have improved significantly, but they can come with a hefty price tag and still don’t quite hit the mark for some consumers on taste and texture. But what if there were a way to have our ‘gluten-safe’ cake and eat it too?
It’s too early to say if Prozymi Biolabs has cracked the problem, but the early signs are encouraging, say the Roslin Innovation Centre-based startup, founded by Dr. Ioannis Stasinopoulos and Dr. Andreas Andreou to identify enzymes that can degrade gliadins, the proteins in gluten that trigger an immune response in people with celiac disease.
The innovation of the enzymes being explored by Prozymi Biolabs is to specifically target the parts of the gluten complex that trigger the immune system whilst retaining the beneficial properties of gluten.
Rather than producing gluten-free wheat, barley, or rye products, the aim is to develop “gluten-safe” products, where gluten has been “neutralized” so as to retain both the texture and the taste!
Some of the biggest baking companies in the UK have visited Prozymi's labs to see the potential to further improve their gluten-free products already available.
To date, Prozymi has secured several non-dilutive sources of funding, including grants from Innovate UK, Scottish Enterprise and the BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council), and also secured a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity), which allows investors to provide capital in exchange for the right to receive equity at a future date from Big Idea Ventures.
Roslin Innovation Centre
The University of Edinburgh
Easter Bush Campus
Midlothian EH25 9RG
