EMERYVILLE, Calif., May 19, 2023
Amyris, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMRS), a leading synthetic biotechnology
company accelerating the world's transition to sustainable
consumption through its Lab-to-Market™ technology platform and
clean beauty consumer brands, today announced that it has signed an
exclusive license agreement with British specialty chemicals
company Croda International Plc, ("Croda") for the supply of
sustainable squalene.
Amyris' squalene is a biofermentation-based adjuvant developed
using Amyris' unique Lab-to-Market technology platform. Squalene,
used in adjuvants to boost immune responses, is commonly derived
from shark liver. Amyris' sugarcane-derived, sustainable squalene
is molecularly identical to the traditional shark source, offering
a higher purity and a more predictable cost profile compared to
sourcing directly from sharks.
Under the terms of the agreement, Amyris will manufacture and
supply squalene to Croda and Croda will license squalene technology
from Amyris to market, distribute, and sell squalene as an
excipient, or as an ingredient in formulated products for use in
human and veterinary vaccines, drug delivery systems, or nucleic
acid delivery systems. Croda will also leverage its experience with
good manufacturing practices for the pharmaceutical industry and
accelerate commercialization of the final packaged squalene
products.
In addition to an upfront payment of $4
million and a future – performance based - milestone payment
of $4 million, Amyris will receive a
share of profits generated from the sale of squalene excipients and
formulated products incorporating Amyris' squalene technology for
use in the vaccine field.
"We are pleased to partner with Croda to increase access to our
sustainable squalene. This agreement is a continuation of our
successful strategy to develop, scale and make the world's
best-performing molecules from clean, sustainable chemistry," said
John Melo, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Amyris. "We have seen the impact and market
desire for sustainable ingredients in beauty, health and wellness
markets. Amyris currently supplies 70% of the world's squalane
market, saving 2.7 million sharks a year. With Croda's partnership
we believe we can have a similar impact on the vaccine market with
our squalene."
Daniele Piergentili, President
Life Sciences at Croda, explains his excitement: "Our partnership
with Amyris is fully aligned with Croda's commitment to be the most
sustainable supplier of innovative ingredients across our growth
markets and with our pharmaceutical strategy to "Empower Biologics
Delivery. Our ambition is to be able to offer vaccine developers
the most appropriate adjuvant systems to maximize the efficacy of
their antigen. Sustainably sourced squalene is a perfect extension
to our broad spectrum of cGMP vaccine adjuvants, and we eagerly
look forward to leveraging it globally across our customer
base."
About Amyris
Amyris (Nasdaq: AMRS) is a leading
synthetic biotechnology company, transitioning the Clean Health
& Beauty and Flavors & Fragrances markets to sustainable
ingredients through fermentation and the company's proprietary
Lab-to-Market™ technology platform. This Amyris platform
leverages state-of-the-art machine learning, robotics and
artificial intelligence, enabling the company to rapidly bring new
innovation to market at commercial scale. Amyris ingredients are
included in over 20,000 products from the world's top brands,
reaching more than 300 million consumers. Amyris also owns and
operates a family of consumer brands that is constantly evolving to
meet the growing demand for sustainable, effective and accessible
products. For more information, please visit
http://www.amyris.com.
About Croda
Established in 1925, Croda is the name behind sustainable, high
performance ingredients and technologies in some of the world's
most successful brands: creating, making and selling speciality
chemicals that are relied on by industries and consumers
everywhere.
Croda is a FTSE 100 company with over 5,800 passionate and
innovative employees, working across manufacturing sites and
offices around the world with a shared Purpose to use Smart science
to improve lives™. As part of this Purpose, and with around
two thirds of its organic raw materials already from bio-based
sources, Croda has committed to be the most sustainable supplier of
innovative ingredients, becoming Climate, Land and People Positive
by 2030. For more information, please visit www.croda.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains
forward-looking statements, and any statements other than
statements of historical fact could be deemed to be forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements include, among other
things, statements regarding future events, such as Amyris'
strategy and expectations regarding the benefits and total value of
the license agreement with Croda; expectations around profits
generated from the sale of squalene excipients and formulated
products; and anticipated impact on the vaccine market and
pharmaceutical industry. These statements are based on management's
current expectations and actual results and future events may
differ materially due to risks and uncertainties, including risks
related to Amyris' liquidity and ability to operate as a going
concern, risks related to its financing activities including
successfully obtaining waivers and amendments of outstanding loan
agreements, risks related to potential delays or failures in
completing planned strategic transactions and dispositions, risks
related to potential delays or failures in development, regulatory
approval, launch, production and commercialization of products,
risks related to global economic trends, inflation and policy
measures undertaken to address inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic and
any other geopolitical events, including the Ukraine conflict,
resulting in global economic, financial and supply chain
disruptions that may negatively impact Amyris' business operations
and financial results or cause market volatility, risks related to
Amyris' reliance on third parties particularly in the supply chain,
and other risks detailed from time to time in filings Amyris makes
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Annual
Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current
Reports on Form 8-K. Amyris disclaims any obligation to update
information contained in these forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
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SOURCE Amyris, Inc.