Anne Lakmanaarachchi is COO and Co-Founder of PhytoAR Biotechnologie GmbH, a company at the interface of plant biotechnology and synthetic biology. She develops mRNA-based technologies that specifically make plants more resilient, vigorous, and independent of chemical inputs – through the application of plastid mRNAs from seedlings, without interfering with the genome of the target plants.

With a background in business chemistry from Kiel University and more than a decade of experience at Bayer Technology Services (Ehrfeld Mikrotechnik), she brings a rare combination of scientific excellence, industrial implementation expertise, and strategic business acumen. With an extensive network of decision-makers in major agricultural, biotechnology, chemical, and pharmaceutical companies, as well as leading scientists and professors worldwide, she has been able to advance the development of sustainable processes in flow chemistry through to the industrialization of bio-based technologies – always with a clear focus on scalability, regulatory feasibility, and market access.

Today, she uses this comprehensive perspective to translate biotechnological research into commercially viable applications. She is considered a key figure in successful technology transfer in agricultural and specialty chemicals—and a voice for a new, biotechnologically driven, but non-genome-altering agriculture. In addition, she has authored and co-authored numerous articles in internationally renowned journals, underscoring her scientific credibility and global recognition.