Genomatica Obtains Rights to Beta Renewables PROESA for its BDO Process

SAN DIEGO, California and RIVALTA SCRIVIA, Italy -- Genomatica has obtained the exclusive worldwide rights to the PROESA process for the production of BDO from biomass, through any fermentation-based process, pursuant to a definitive agreement signed with Beta Renewables. Integrating PROESA with Genomaticas direct biological process will result in a complete, proprietary process for the second-generation manufacturing of BDO using non-food, cellulosic biomass as feedstock. Genomaticas process is intended to deliver better economics and a smaller environmental footprint than the production of petroleum-based BDO. BDO is an intermediate chemical used in products that include athletic apparel, running shoes, electronics and automobiles.

The companies plan to produce BDO from biomass at demonstration-scale in 2012, at Beta Renewables facility in Rivalta Scrivia, Italy. This agreement builds on a previously announced strategic partnership between Genomatica and Gruppo M&G (the majority owner of Beta Renewables) and strengthens the partnership between the two organizations.

Beta Renewables is building the worlds largest cellulosic ethanol plant in Crescentino, Italy. It is designed to use the PROESA process to make sugars from non-food biomass and then ferment the sugars to make ethanol.

"We believe that combining best-in-class technologies, like Genomaticas BDO process and PROESA - and licensing them to companies for their production facilities - can drive faster adoption of advanced biofuels and biochemicals," said Guido Ghisolfi, CEO, Beta Renewables.

"Together we will provide more feedstock flexibility to the chemical industry and a solution to reducing the volatility of raw material inputs," said Christophe Schilling, CEO, Genomatica. "We are working to enable our chemical industry partners to produce sustainable chemicals from conventional sugars, cellulosic biomass or syngas - all while delivering improved profitability compared to petrochemical processes, the ability to deploy smaller-scale plants, and a smaller environmental footprint."

Genomaticas process for direct biological production has been recognized in peer-reviewed publications and with the 2011 EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. Its work on biomass to BDO has won a DOE grant.

PROESA is a second-generation technology for using non-food energy crops or agricultural waste and turning them into different types of sugary liquids, and is designed to produce them at a lower cost than competing approaches. These sugars are expected to allow custom organisms and processes, like Genomaticas, to make bio-products with improved economics. PROESA is used to convert lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars, and it will be used in the worlds largest cellulosic ethanol plant in Crescentino, Italy, with operations planned to start in mid-2012.