Independent advisory · Industrial biotech & recombinant proteins · UK

Bioprocess decisions, decided well.

Kavod-Nova is the decision-quality layer above your in-house team — an independent advisory practice that resolves upstream bioprocess risk at the bench-to-pilot decision point, by applying the Process-Forward AI (PFI) Framework.

Book a 30-minute diagnostic call Read the PFI Framework →
FoundedMarch 2026 · Companies House registered
Practice leadPhD biochemical engineer · 15 years in metabolic pathway design & recombinant proteins
Engagement modelDiagnostic Sprint · Strategy engagement · Retained advisory · Bespoke
The problem we exist for

The most expensive sentence in industrial biotech is also the most common.

It worked in the flask.

Most of the time, the flask-scale data is honestly held. What gets lost between bench and the next decision — Series A diligence, a pilot commitment, a corporate go/no-go — is not the science. It is the decision-quality. The structured discipline of asking which assumptions survive volume change, which uncertainties are being treated as known because the timeline cannot afford them to be unknown, and what the smallest experiment would be that could invalidate the plan.

Senior bioprocess engineers ask these questions every day, when given the time. The problem is that the timeline rarely gives them the time. Kavod-Nova exists to make that time, structured, before the capital commits.

  • i
    The titre is the headline number.

    The 96-point figure on the title slide is the right answer to the wrong question; it is rarely the question the buying committee is actually asking.

  • ii
    The pre-mortem has not been written.

    If no one in the room can name the three ways the next campaign could disappoint by 30%, the decision is not yet ready.

  • iii
    The AI conversation is mostly about the model.

    If the discussion is mostly architecture, training data, and algorithm choice, the project may not have answered the upstream framing question. Question 1 is the place to start.

How we engage

Four offerings, each engineered for a specific decision moment.

All four sit one layer above the in-house team. None replace it. Pricing is engagement-specific and discussed in the diagnostic conversation.

Wedge engagement · Sprint format

Upstream Intelligence Diagnostic

Two weeks · three tiers · investor-ready output.

A structured Sprint that turns a biotech idea or stalled programme into a fundable manufacturing concept. Combines structured intake, AI-augmented design pass, and PhD expert review. Three tiers — Pilot, Standard, Full — to fit founder-stage to corporate-innovation budgets.

  • Host & pathway recommendation, upstream concept, 6–12 run experiment plan.
  • Analytics panel and risk & COGs snapshot.
  • One decision memo. Lab-ready, not abstract.
  • Optional add-ons: downstream module, full COGs model, investor deck slides.
For: pre-Series A founders · corporate innovation leads · academic spin-outs.Investment: scoped to tier, named in the diagnostic call.
Core engagement

PFI Strategy Engagement

8–12 weeks · the full framework.

Full application of the Process-Forward AI Framework to one defined upstream challenge: titre uplift, productivity, scale-up window, contained-use design, ICH Q13 readiness.

  • Strategy document and implementation roadmap.
  • Governance handover to the in-house team.
  • Advisory through implementation, not delegated execution.
For: companies committing capital to the next scale-up campaign.Investment: scoped per engagement.
Compounding engagement

Retained AI Advisory

Monthly retainer · ongoing.

The decision-quality layer made standing. Defined hours of advisory access, named participation in stage-gate reviews and investor diligence, quarterly strategy refresh.

  • Standing decision-quality cover for the leadership team.
  • Quarterly portfolio review of upstream commitments.
  • First call on new scale-up decisions before capital commits.
For: leadership teams running a portfolio of scale-up programmes.Investment: monthly retainer; minimum 6 months.
Bespoke engagement

Bespoke / Tailored Services

Scoped from first principles.

Some engagements span multiple disciplines, run on atypical timelines, or require the integration of named partner specialists. The Bespoke engagement is designed for those — built from the question, not from a tier.

  • Investor and M&A technical due diligence on biotech targets.
  • Cross-portfolio reviews for VCs and corporate venture arms.
  • Multi-stakeholder regulatory or grant-application advisory.
  • Engagements integrating partners (CFD, omics, CMC, GMP).
For: complex challenges that do not fit a single named tier.Investment: scoped from first principles in the diagnostic call.
The proprietary methodology

The Process-Forward AI (PFI) Framework.

Most AI-in-biotech projects fail because they answer question four first, and never answer question one. The PFI Framework reverses the order. Model architecture, training data, and algorithm choice are downstream of all four questions. They are not unimportant. They are not the constraint.

AI applied to the question, not the data.

The PFI Framework is the firm's principal proprietary methodology. The detailed methodology lives inside client engagements. The four foundational questions are public, because authorship of the framing is the asset.

Question 01

Which scale-up decision does this model exist to make better?

If the answer is "we’ll figure that out once the model is trained," the project is not ready.

Question 02

What does the human in the loop need the model to tell them — and what to admit it doesn’t know?

Calibrated uncertainty is more decision-useful than a single point prediction.

Question 03

Where, in the existing process, does the model insertion point sit?

The model is workflow infrastructure before it is intelligence.

Question 04

What is the smallest, cheapest validation that would either justify or kill the deployment?

Pre-committed kill criteria are the hallmark of a serious project — and a project that will ship.

About the practice

A high-level technical-strategic layer for biotechnology decision-makers.

Kavod-Nova Bioconsulting Ltd is an independent advisory firm focused on helping organisations make better technical and strategic decisions in complex, science-driven environments. The firm works with mid-stage industrial biotech companies, contract development and manufacturing organisations, university spin-outs, and government-adjacent bodies.

The core focus is on improving how biological processes are designed, evaluated, and scaled — while ensuring they remain commercially viable and environmentally responsible. The firm's expertise spans bioprocess engineering, microbiology, and synthetic biology, with particular strength in translating complex scientific challenges into structured, actionable strategies.

The practice does not run wet labs, replace in-house R&D teams, or sell software. It sits one layer above the in-house team as the decision-quality layer.

  • Founded
    March 2026 · Companies House registered.
  • Lead expertise
    PhD biochemical engineer · 15 years in metabolic pathway design, E. coli recombinant proteins, enzyme kinetics, and bench-scale upstream process design.
  • Where we are deep
    Pathway design · strain engineering · upstream concept (seed train to production at bench scale) · spectrophotometric & kinetic analytics · LC/MS, GC, microscopy · COGs-aware concept design.
  • Where we partner
    Industrial-scale fermenter operations, CFD scale-up modelling, full omics data pipelines, and CMC dossier authoring sit outside our named depth — we bring partners in for these.
  • Methodology
    Process-Forward AI (PFI) Framework · proprietary.
  • Engagement model
    Diagnostic Sprint · Strategy engagement · Retained advisory · Bespoke. No hourly time-and-materials.
  • Sectors
    Industrial biotechnology · biorefineries & bio-based materials · recombinant protein platforms · synbio spinouts · corporate bio-innovation.
  • Geographic focus
    UK and EU primary. International by exception.
  • Insurance & compliance
    Professional indemnity and public liability insured. ICO registered. UK GDPR compliant.
    • Writing & thought leadership

    The work we publish is the work we do.

    Quarterly long-form pieces and weekly observations on bioprocess decision quality, the genuine and selective uses of AI in biotech, and the unified bioeconomy.

    New writing arrives in the inbox of subscribers first. LinkedIn distribution follows.

    The conversation

    If “it worked in the flask” is in your current sentence, we should talk.

    A 30-minute call. No pitch. We discuss the decision in front of you, and decide together whether a Diagnostic engagement is the right next step.

    Book a 30-minute diagnostic call

    Or write directly: consult@kavod-novabioconsulting.com