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.
SOURCE Amyris, Inc.
