After 4 years of intense staff-exchange between several partners of the European Union’s H2020 -Marie Skłodowska-Curie project, considerable progress was made in developing new added-value products from microalgae. 

Besides implementing cutting edge research, the ALGAE- For Aquaculture and Beauty (ALGAE4a-b) project produced several exciting outcomes of commercial interest as bioactive compound that stimulates skin proliferation and wound healing that has high potential for application in cosmetic formulations by APIVITA, a microalgae extracts with interesting anti-ageing effects and prebiotics that boosts sole growth and resistance to infection with high relevance for this relatively new sector in southern Europe. 

Led by our researcher Deborah Power, the scientific team collaborated with 3 leading European companies such as a microalgae producers Fitoplancton Marino, a sequencing and technology company, LIFESEQ ADM, and a natural cosmetics company, APIVITA and the three research institutes Agricultural University of Athens, Instituto Andaluz De Investigacion y Formacion Agraria Pesquera Alimentaria and CERMAV to develop research and added value innovative products. 

The ALGAE4a-b project fostered and contributed to European capacity building through the over 200 months of secondments and delivered important contributions to the strategic EU objectives for Blue Growth and Marine Biotechnology.