All G and Armor Protéines launch joint venture to scale animal-free lactoferrin production

Australian precision fermentation company All G has formed a joint venture with French dairy specialist Armor Protéines to bring animal-free lactoferrin to market, marking one of the most commercially focused partnerships to date in the emerging bioidentical dairy sector. As first reported by AgFunder, the collaboration combined All G’s expertise in recombinant protein engineering with Armor Protéines’ decades of experience producing bioactive milk proteins for nutrition markets worldwide.

The JV will debut with recombinant bovine lactoferrin, which All G plans to launch in the first quarter of 2026. A human lactoferrin product will follow later in the year, targeting applications in adult nutrition, supplements and, eventually, infant formula.

The announcement followed All G’s A$10 million (US$6.6 million) convertible note raise from new and existing investors, including Agronomics and Döhler Ventures, ahead of a planned Series B round. The company said the partnership would allow it to tap into Armor Protéines’ scientific resources, distribution networks and established relationships across the infant and adult nutrition industries.

Lactoferrin, an iron-binding antimicrobial protein found in mammalian milk, is valued for its roles in immune function, iron uptake, gastrointestinal support and skin health. Supply has historically been limited because extracting lactoferrin from milk requires extremely large volumes of raw material, making it expensive and difficult to scale. Several companies have turned to precision fermentation to address these constraints, using engineered microorganisms to produce the protein in fermentation tanks.

All G said technical hurdles in the field had slowed commercial progress, particularly the challenge of reproducing native glycosylation patterns and achieving high fermentation yields. The company claimed it had solved these bottlenecks and could now deliver lactoferrin at high purity and consistent quality, supporting scalable production and improved global access.

Speaking to AgFunderNews, CEO Jan Pacas said the joint venture was designed to address immediate demand rather than create entirely new categories. “Armor Protéines is owned by Savencia, which is one of the top three global producers of bovine lactoferrin,” he said. “Demand exceeds supply so we can immediately help fill the pipeline. They already have an established market and customers who want to buy more of it in applications where we already have approval in China such as supplements and personal care.”

Pacas added that the partnership’s global reach would help accelerate revenue growth. “Armor Protéines has a vast distribution network, a lot of credibility, and a lot of in-house capability, so we see this as a means of getting to significant revenues very fast,” he said.

Regulatory progress has been a key enabler. All G has secured self-GRAS status in the United States for adult nutrition and gained approval in several product categories in China, with additional filings underway. The company completed pilot-scale runs with Döhler and has begun technology transfer to a contract manufacturer in China, with a second contract manufacturing partner planned for the United States or Europe. Pacas said the primary CMO already produced for major pharmaceutical companies and had specific expertise with All G’s microbial system.

While the JV initially focused on bovine and human lactoferrin, All G was also developing recombinant casein. Pacas said lactoferrin offered a faster path to profitability because of its high price point and relatively low volume requirements. Casein, by contrast, would require larger-scale infrastructure and clearer consumer benefit claims. He noted, however, that human casein could become strategically important in infant formula, particularly as companies continued incorporating precision-fermentation-derived human milk oligosaccharides into their products.

“I believe that in five to ten years, human lactoferrin will become dominant in infant formula,” Pacas said. He pointed to China’s US$35 billion infant formula market as a major opportunity and confirmed that All G was already working with one of the country’s largest suppliers on regulatory pathways.

As precision fermentation gains momentum, the joint venture between All G and Armor Protéines signaled a growing convergence between established dairy players and next-generation protein developers, with both sides aiming to expand access to bioactive ingredients that were once limited by cost or availability.