Jul 27 2011
Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX) and CJ CheilJedang (CJ) announced today the execution of a joint development agreement to advance production technology and assess investment options for the commercialization of renewable C4 chemicals via fermentation.
The C4 chemical market is a $3 billion industry growing at 4 percent per year. C4 chemical products are used in a wide range of applications including engineering plastics, fabrics and fibers, personal care products and in semiconductor manufacturing.
Within the joint development agreement, CJ will contribute fermentation assets and expertise to produce pilot quantities of dried whole fermentation broth containing raw C4 chemicals. Metabolix will continue the development of microbial strains and the scale-up of its proprietary FASTTM recovery process to produce high-purity C4 chemicals. The FASTTM recovery process is a low-cost, energy-efficient approach to recover high-purity renewable chemicals directly from dried whole fermentation broth. In addition, Metabolix and CJ will collaborate closely to develop a detailed market and economic analysis examining all aspects of an investment to commercialize renewable C4 chemicals. The initial market entry is expected to be through gamma butyrolactone (GBL), with subsequent growth into butanediol (BDO), tetrahydrofuran (THF) and polyester engineering resins (PBT).
"We are excited to be working with a company with such a strong track record of growth," noted Rick Eno, president and CEO of Metabolix. "CJ's global fermentation asset base and product expansion plans fit very well with the market needs for C4 chemicals. Together, we hope to meet the strong market demand for this important family of materials."
CJ BIO, a division of CJ CheilJedang, is a world leader in bio fermentation based R&D and manufacturing with a range of amino acids, including lysine, as well as nucleotides. CJ BIO operates world-scale fermentation facilities in China, Indonesia and Brazil; these sites, as well as new potential sites, will be analyzed as production bases for renewable C4 chemicals based on the Metabolix technology.
John Kang, VP of CJ BIO, noted, "As CJ continues to execute its bio-products growth strategy, we see the addition of renewable C4 chemicals as an important component. We have been impressed with the Metabolix technology and look forward to the joint development of C4 chemicals and potential collaboration in commercialization."