Amyris Partners with Givaudan to Develop Key Fragrance Ingredient from Biofene

“This project provides yet another example of the breadth of products that can be derived from Biofene - our first-to-market renewable building block.”

3/3/2011 --- Amyris, Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement with Givaudan, the global leader in the fragrances and flavors industry, headquartered in Vernier, Switzerland. Under the agreement, Givaudan will develop a derivative of Biofene to be used as a building block for one of the most important proprietary fragrance ingredients in Givaudan’s palette. Biofene is the chemical, farnesene, produced using Amyris’s bio-based technology and production platform.

The use of Biofene supports Givaudan’s goal of utilizing cost-effective and sustainably sourced materials. Upon successful achievement of certain success criteria, Amyris will supply Biofene to Givaudan to derive a proprietary fragrance ingredient for the global fragrances and flavors market. Givaudan intends to market and distribute the final product as early as 2012, and Amyris will share in the economic value created from the use of Biofene.

“Our collaboration with Givaudan reinforces our commitment to supply No Compromise solutions to the fragrances and flavors market,” said John Melo, CEO of Amyris. “This project provides yet another example of the breadth of products that can be derived from Biofene - our first-to-market renewable building block.”

“As an innovator as well as the industry’s largest purchaser of raw materials, we have a responsibility to shape and lead the sustainability approach in the fragrances and flavors industry,” said Gilles Andrier, CEO of Givaudan. “Continued investment into research and development is a key pillar of our 5-year business strategy and through collaborations with suppliers like Amyris, we can deliver real and impactful solutions.”

Amyris’s synthetic biology platform creates living factories to produce specific, targeted molecules. Amyris’s technology platform may be applied to produce an array of ingredients currently used in the fragrances and flavors industry. Amyris designs its No Compromise products to provide high-quality solutions from sustainable and reliable sources and at competitive prices. This collaboration is another indication of Amyris’s potential in the fragrances and flavors market and is the first partnership that focuses on the use of Biofene as a building block for an important fragrances ingredient.