Business Concentrates
DSM will buy this Amyris plant in Brotas, Brazil.
DRUG DISCOVERY
Johns Hopkins research gets venture backing Deerfield Management, a life sciences investment management firm, and Johns Hopkins University have formed a collaboration called Bluefield Innovations to support therapeutic research and discovery at the university. Funded by Deerfield, the venture will offer up to $65 million over five years for early-stage research with additional funding for projects with strong commercial potential. Therapies developed at Bluefield will be licensed to third parties or launched as start-up ventures. Companies spun off from Bluefield may receive funding from Deerfield. The unusual deal is the second recently for Deerfield. Just last month it formed a similar collaboration worth $50 million with Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard. Dave Greenwald, director of business development at Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures, says the new partnership is unique but advantageous for both parties. “We are constantly looking at ways to commercialize research coming out of Johns Hopkins, and Deerfield is looking to access innovation earlier and earlier,” he says. Greenwald notes that Deerfield funded two startups from Johns Hopkins last year: Blade Therapeutics, an antifibrotic drug development company, and Graybug Vision, an opthalmic drug-delivery firm. An investment firm teaming with university research is a sign of maturation in the drug discovery “innovation ecosystem,” says Bernard Munos, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute’s FasterCures research advocacy center. Investor support reduces an academic lab’s risk in developing products, Munos says. And drug companies, having significantly downsized in-house R&D, are coming to realize universities are an excellent source of external innovation. “We are going to see more of this,” he says. “And it’s a good thing.” —RICK MULLIN
BY THE NUMBERS
C R E D I T: A MY R I S
80%
The proportion of the world’s growth in oil and gas production that will come from the U.S. through 2025, thanks to the country’s shale resources. Low-cost natural gas is powering a resurgence in U.S. chemical production, according to the American Chemistry Council. The trade group forecasts the boom will spur $160 billion in capital spending and create over 700,000 permanent jobs. Source: International Energy Agency
BIOBASED CHEMICALS
Amyris farnesene plant going to DSM Cash infusion will accelerate biobased chemical firm’s plans for new specialties facility Biobased chemicals maker Amyris has agreed to sell its Brazilian farnesene fermentation plant to Dutch specialties firm DSM for $96 million. The deal includes intellectual property for producing farnesene, a key intermediate chemical made from sugar. The announcement came three days after Amyris disclosed its earnings for the third quarter. The company booked $24.2 million in revenues from product sales and collaborations, down from $26.5 million in the year-ago quarter. And its quarterly loss ballooned to almost $34 million from $19.7 million. Founded in 2003 to commercialize science from the lab of University of California, Berkeley, chemical engineer Jay D. Keasling, Amyris bet big on the potential of its fermentation technology. But investors have recently grown impatient. Its stock price has fallen from a high of close to $80 per share in 2013 to less than $4.00 today. The purchase is the second cash infusion from DSM. In May, the two firms began working together to develop nutritional ingredients such as microbially produced vitamin A. As part of the agreement, DSM invested $50 million in Amyris. Amyris has operated the farnesene plant in Brotas, Brazil, since 2013. Equipped with six 200,000-L fermenters, the facility was designed to serve large markets. In a conference call with analysts, CEO John Melo said Amyris requires new capacity to manufacture the smaller batches of specialty chemicals desired by its other customers in health, personal care, and flavor and fragrance markets. Meanwhile, DSM plans to ramp up its own biobased production. “Our know-how in fermentation, downstream process development, and large-scale manufacturing will allow us to further improve the operational performance of the facility,” said Chris Goppelsroeder, president of DSM Nutritional Products. Cowen & Co. stock analyst Christopher Souther agrees that DSM can likely improve the plant’s operations. “We see the sale as strong evidence of the value of Amyris’s platform and view it as a positive given the company’s strong need for liquidity,” he wrote in a note to investors. Melo said Amyris is on track to hit $130 million in revenues this year, or double last year’s results. The company plans to manufacture a low-calorie sweetener in 2018 and build a second facility without taking on more debt.—MELODY BOMGARDNER NOVEMBER 27, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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