In a resounding victory for Philippine agricultural biotechnology, Bacolod-bred team TAM-IS BioSolutions earned international acclaim by securing the prestigious ScaleX Award at the Tech Planter Demo Day Asia Final 2026 in Malaysia.
ScaleX is a Malaysian Agrifood Tech Scale-up Platform.
The competition, which had 14 entries from Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Philippines, was held on Aug. 27 at the MRANTI Innovation Park in Kuala Lumpur. Singapore’s ETA Volt team won the grand prize.
TAM-IS BioSolutions presenter Charles Justin Gan, a native of Silay City, represented the team on stage, standing out among top deep-tech innovators from across Southeast Asia and Japan to bring a major win home to Negros Occidental.
For a region long-recognized as the Sugar Capital of the Philippines, the achievement carries profound local significance, as sugarcane farming across Western Visayas and Negros Island Regions has faced mounting pressure from declining crop yields, degraded soils, pest infestations and rising fertilizer costs.
The recognition in Malaysia highlights a home-grown microbial breakthrough capable of reversing these agricultural losses directly at the field level.
The roots of this success trace back to the laboratories of the University of St. La Salle where Gan — together with fellow student researchers Jed Emmanuel Reysoma, Jules Vern Garcia, and Rein Juan Duego Nillos — initiated a research on soil microbiology. The researchers called their team “The 4 Phosphateers”.
Under the mentorship of microbiology professor Dr. Joval Martinez, the team studied thermophilic, heat-tolerant bacteria isolated from local hot springs discovered by the previous student research team of Dr. Martinez. These natural microbial strains solubilized bound phosphorus locked inside farm soils, offering a climate-resilient way to reduce reliance on synthetic chemical inputs.
When The 4 Phosphateers emerged as the Grand Winner of the inaugural Visayas TECH PLANTER Demo Day in August 2024, the breakthrough sparked a larger vision.
Recognizing that student intelligence and lab discoveries often lack the runway to reach commercial viability, Dr. Joval Martinez was inspired to establish Co-Lab Life Sciences in 2025 as a biotechnology startup and incubator. Co-Lab was built specifically to support young Visayan researchers, ensuring their scientific talent could directly transform the regional economy through commercialized discoveries.
Building upon that foundational research inspired by the works of Dr. Martinez on hot-spring bacteria back in Japan, TAM-IS BioSolutions was established with full research and development support from Co-Lab Life Sciences to turn university science into market-ready agricultural tools.
Dr. Martinez, who holds a doctorate degree in microbiology in the Tokyo Metropolitan University, serves TAM-IS BioSolutions CEO.
Coined from a local word ‘tam-is’, which means sweet, Thermophile-Activated Microbial Inoculant System (TAM-IS) project was created to continue the initial discovery of the bacterial Strain JQTJ1 as a phosphate-solubilizing bacterium to be used as a potential biofertilizer.
A research team of Dr. Martinez led by biologist Kelcie Jacob continued the scientific development of the technology, advancing the initial research work begun by Gan and previous thermophile research teams into a targeted microbial solution.
Working on this project, were another biologist, Ysha Delfin, Gan and Dr. Martinez as the project lead. With the Co-lab Life Sciences team, the young scientists formulated a specialized microbial bioenhancer to restore soil and plant health and boost sucrose output in declining sugarcane fields, positioning it as one of Co-Lab Life Sciences’ premier microbial products for the agricultural sector.
Supported by Co-Lab Life Sciences team of Dr. Martinez, Kyle Taruc, May Therese Caldo-Tries, Kristine Jison and John Benneth, TAM-IS BioSolutions advanced to the 10th TECH PLANTER in the Philippines National Finals on May 3 this year, achieving a unanimous decision from the judging panel to earn the National Grand Winner title and securing the honor of representing the country internationally.
At the Asia Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Gan pitched the microbial solution to a global delegation of corporate leaders, venture capitalists, and industry partners.
The judges awarded TAM-IS BioSolutions the ScaleX Award, celebrating the team’s commitment to supporting smallholder farming families through accessible biotechnology.
Dr. Martinez said “the victory grants the startup access to regional living lab facilities and dedicated program support for multi-country field validation trials in 2027.” | NWI
