CP Kelco U.S., Inc. and Fluxome Sciences Join Forces in Resveratrol

Resveratrol is believed to be a contributing factor to the "French Paradox." This refers to the fact that despite a diet that is rich in saturated fats, the French population has a relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease.

18/06/08 CP Kelco U.S., Inc., a unit of J.M. Huber Corporation, and Fluxome Sciences A/S, a Copenhagen-based Danish biotechnology company, announced today that they have entered into an agreement to jointly develop and commercialize fermentation derived resveratrol for the dietary supplement, food, beverage, and cosmetics markets. Resveratrol, a potent antioxidant normally found in grapes and red wine, has been associated with positive effects on aging, cardiovascular health, diabetes, obesity and certain cancers. Resveratrol is believed to be a contributing factor to the "French Paradox." This refers to the fact that despite a diet that is rich in saturated fats, the French population has a relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease.

Among the many physiological effects of resveratrol, recent research has found that it can activate proteins known as sirtuins that play a key role in mitigating cellular damage and age-related disorders. Sirtuins are critical to the function of mitochondria, the cellular "engines" that produce the energy needed by all cells to survive and thrive. This is thought to be, in part, the mechanism that explains the life-extension benefits associated with resveratrol observed in certain laboratory animals. These and other findings have generated intense interest in new products based on esveratrol from the dietary supplement, food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. The collaboration between CP Kelco and Fluxome Sciences will focus on the development and scale up of a novel fermentation process based on Fluxome Sciences' proprietary metabolic engineering technology platform. A novel baker's yeast strain developed by Fluxome will be scaled up by CP Kelco to commercially produce the active form of resveratrol.

"Fluxome is the global leader in the development of bioprocessed resveratrol and other key nutraceutical ingredients. Our technology is broadly protected by a strong portfolio of patents and patent applications. The strategic partnership with CP Kelco will greatly accelerate process development and provide the manufacturing capabilities and capacity required to launch, and reliably supply the market with a natural, high purity resveratrol ingredient. CP Kelco's application development expertise and access to key food, beverage and personal care companies will also speed up the penetration of our resveratrol products into these applications," said Steen Andersen, CEO of Fluxome Sciences.

"This exciting collaboration is part of CP Kelco's long term plan to leverage its industry-leading fermentation development capabilities and established positions in the global food, beverage and personal care markets to create new growth opportunities," said James Tuan, Director, Market Development & Innovation of CP Kelco. "Fluxome Sciences' unique approach, combining computational and experimental technology platforms, has succeeded in developing a novel, highly productive system for the commercial production of resveratrol that will be well-positioned to meet growing market needs," said James Tuan.

The two companies will collaborate to advance a novel yeast strain developed by Fluxome Sciences into commercial scale production by CP Kelco. The fermentation derived resveratrol product will be initially positioned as an ingredient for human nutritional supplements late 2008. Additional commercial applications in foods, beverages and cosmetics will also be developed.