Aquasearch wins
European patent

Star-Bulletin staff

KAILUA-KONA - Aquasearch Inc., the Kona company in the initial phases of producing microalgae as a food additive, has obtained a European patent on its production equipment, the company said today.

The company announced the receipt of an U.S. patent last year.

Aquasearch is developing astaxanthin microalgae, which produces a red pigment that can be used as a coloring agent in food for fish and other seafoods. The pigment would insure that aquaculture-grown salmon would be pink and lobsters would be red.

The award by the European Patent Office applies in all European Union nations and protects the company's closed-tube "photobioreactor" technology, the company said.

"We consider this patent to be very significant," said Mark Huntley, chief executive officer of Aquasearch.

"There are two reasons why it is important: automation and competition. A major aspect of our European patent is the automated control production," Huntley said. "Automation of the closed chamber photobioreactor brings benefits in minimizing contamination, significant savings in labor costs, and better control of the production environment."

Huntley said competition to develop commercial photobioreactors has been fierce.

Despite the upbeat statement, the company's vice president for operations, John Emerich Jr., said the company has not been able to enter full commercial development because of fluctuations in production.

"We haven't been able to consistently make product. We need to demonstrate reliability," Emerich said. "We're still at least one to two years from profitability."

The company last year announced a partnership with the Finland-based animal food giant Cultor Ltd., which was to serve as Aquasearch's main market.

Meanwhile, Cyanotech Corp., Aquasearch's competitor and neighboring company at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority at Keahole, North Kona, is already producing commercial tonnage of astaxanthin, chief executive Gerald Cysewski said.

Unlike Aquasearch, which produces astaxanthin entirely in closed tubes, part of Cyanotech's production is in open ponds, he said.

Cyanotech is now marketing the microalgae in Chile, Finland, Japan, Canada, Taiwan, and Scotland, Cysewski said.

He declined to disclose production details, but he said the company is now using ponds covering five acres, and another five acres will be ready for production by the end of August.

The company has another 62 acres producing other microalgae products, mostly spirulina.