Californian biotech company Genomatica (Geno) alongside longtime collaborator Aquafil successfully completed the first demonstration scale production runs for plant-based nylon-6. The material is intended to reshape the $22 billion nylon industry, enabling brands to meet demand from consumers for sustainable everyday materials from apparel to automotive parts to carpets.
Novozymes, world’s leading industrial biotech company, and AgroFresh, a global leader in post-harvest freshness solutions, are forming a research and commercialization partnership towards developing biological solutions that can improve post-harvest food quality and minimize waste by fighting fungal pathogens. Resulting products, which will be developed for post-harvest applications, will benefit growers, retailers, and consumers, as well as the environment.
“At Union level, the European Green Deal is surely a clear and strong signal to many industries, and this will help our clients to gain further competing edges vs parties that still struggle to understand the benefit of implementing biosynthesis into their processes as tool to increase their competitiveness and sustainability.” To say it – in this exclusive interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Cyrille Pauthenier, Ceo and co-founder of Abolis, an industrial biotech company located in France. Pauthenier is graduated from École Normale Supérieure de Paris where he studied fundamental chemistry and biology. In 2011, he specialized in synthetic biology. In 2014, after obtaining his Ph.D., Cyrille co-founded Abolis, with the aim of using biology to accelerate the ecological transition of chemical industry.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
U.S. industrial biotech company Geomatica won the prestigious 2020 Green Chemistry Challenge Award given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its Brontide® natural butylene glycol. Honoring groundbreaking scientific solutions to real-world environmental problems, the win for Brontide natural butylene glycol marks the third EPA award held by Genomatica and makes them one of only four companies to win the award three times in the program’s 25-year history.
Naples will be the world capital of the bioeconomy for a couple of days. The International Forum on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioeconomy (IFIB) goes to the fascinating Italian city from 3 to 4 October at the Congress Center of the University Federico II.
Christophe Schilling founded Genomatica in 1998. Since being named CEO in May 2009, he has led Genomatica to widespread recognition as a leader in industrial biotech, with a commercialized first process and plant and multiple leading partners. The company has earned awards for industry impact (recognized in ICIS Top40 Power Players five years in a row), engineering (Kirkpatrick), science (EPA Presidential Green Chemistry), industry leadership (voted #1 Hottest four years in a row by Biofuels Digest), and company culture (The Scientist as a Best Place to Work). Christophe is Chairman of Biocom, the largest advocate organization for California’s life sciences sector; serves on BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section Governing Board; serves on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Biotechnology; and is a member of YPO, an international leadership organization for chief executives. In this exclusive interview with Il Bioeconomista, he talks about the recent agreement with Covestro and the Genomatica’s way towards the bioeconomy.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
“Innovation is the key for the transformation towards a bioeconomy, and industrial biotechnology is the driving force and innovation engine for this megatrend”. Jürgen Eck, CEO BRAIN AG, talks with Il Bioeconomista. In this exclusive interview, the Most Innovative Bioeconomy CEO 2018 voted by our readers, talks about his company, the bioeconomy and the concept of innovation.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
UK biotech company Ingenza has joined forces with leading universities and industrial partners to participate in the ConBioChem collaboration, a translational project focused on the development of novel platform technologies for the continuous bio-production of commodity chemicals.
Clariant, a Swiss leader in specialty chemicals, and French industrial biotech company Global Bioenergies last Tuesday announced the development of a new bio-based polymer for cosmetic creams and lotions, which is derived from renewable isobutene.
Genomatica published the results of a major survey of sustainability issues in the mainstream chemical industry. The survey was conducted together with ICIS, the world’s largest petrochemical market information provider. The survey, fourth in a series they have conducted since 2009, revealed substantial advances for sustainability and renewable chemicals in general, for chemical producers, users (companies making products from basic and intermediate chemicals) and distributors.
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