Amyris, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRS) announced today that it has entered into a contract manufacturing agreement with Tate & Lyle Ingredients Americas, Inc., an affiliate of Tate & Lyle PLC (LSE:TATE). Under this arrangement, Tate & Lyle will produce farnesene at its facilities in Decatur, IL; the produced farnesene will be owned and distributed by Amyris.
This arrangement with Tate & Lyle expands Amyris's contracted production capacity. Amyris entered into a similar agreement in June 2010 with a facility of Biomin GMBH in Piracicaba, Brazil. Amyris expects to begin production of farnesene at the Biomin facility in the first half of 2011.
Amyris is using contract manufacturing capacity to produce farnesene at commercial scale to supply customer demand in advance of the start up of Amyris's first commercial plant under its joint venture with Grupo São Martinho (SA:SMTO3).
"We are excited to be collaborating with Tate & Lyle to accelerate our commercial production of farnesene,"
said John Melo, CEO of Amyris. "Beyond supporting our commercial production targets in 2011, we believe that this partnership will allow us to leverage Tate & Lyle's world leading expertise in aseptic fermentation operations as we ramp our industrial scale."
"We are delighted to be working with Amyris to help them achieve the first commercialization of its farnesene,"
said Matt Wineinger, President, Bulk Ingredients, Tate & Lyle. "The combination of our facilities and expertise and Amyris's fermentation processes and equipment are a truly excellent fit."
About Amyris
Amyris is building an integrated renewable products company by applying industrial synthetic biology to genetically modify microorganisms to serve as living factories. Amyris designs these microorganisms to produce defined molecules for use as renewable chemicals and transportation fuels. Amyris Brasil S.A., a subsidiary of Amyris, oversees the establishment and expansion of Amyris's production in Brazil, including SMA Indústria Química S.A., its joint venture with São Martinho. In addition, Amyris is building fuels distribution capabilities in the United States through its subsidiary, Amyris Fuels LLC. More information about Amyris and its subsidiaries is available at www.amyris.com.