The new greenhouse facility, which is built near one of the country's major lava fields, uses renewable geothermal energy to power the indoor cultivation of barley that has been modified using the firm's Orfeus bioproduction platform.
The Orfeus system uses barley's endosperm storage cell, characterised by its bio-chemically inert environment and lack of endotoxins, as the production host.
Other advantages of this system include low protease activity and secondary metabolite content and simple protein content all of which aid in downstream processing.
In addition, barley has received the US Food and Drug Administration's generally recognized as safe designation (GRAS).
Speaking at the opening of facility, Iceland's minister of industry, Ossur Skarphedinsson, said that: " ORF's ideas have sprouted from the dynamic Icelandic public research environment ."
Skarphedinsson added that: " the company's leaders, with unflagging entrepreneurial optimism, have overcome all difficulties, making ORD a uniquer high tech company ."
Unique location ORF's co-founder and chief financial officer, Dr Júlíus Kristinsson, told in-PharmaTechnologist.com that the firm had been working towards the launch since 2000.
He explained that " Iceland 's position on the border of two tectonic plates means that it has vast geothermal reserves ," and added that " around half of the buildings in the country are heating using geothermal energy ."
Kristinsson went on to say that Iceland's geographic location also provides an optimum greenhouse environment, helping to reduce the risk of overheating and thereby reducing costs associated with cooling at the site.
He added that the facility uses geothermal energy to power its lighting, which is vital to maintaining the quality of the crop produced.
The 22,000 square foot site employs a soil-less hydroponic system of conveyor belts that is capable of producing up to 90 different proteins at the same time.
It will initially be used for the production of the company's biorisk-free ISOkine range of recombinant proteins of animal origin for clients in the medical research, drug discovery and cosmetics sectors.
Kristinsson said that the firm expects to cultivate four crops a year and will achieve yields of 1kg/m2 per harvest.
Kristinsson added that because it is located near to one of the country's largest geothermal power stations, there is scope for considerable expansion of production at the facility, in terms of both space and energy supply.
He also said that, while the majority of ORF's customers are involved in laboratory research, the company plans to begin expanding its client base to include pharmaceutical firms in the next few years.