Diversa aims at $100m enzyme business
capacity in enzymes used for industrial processes, including the
production of pharmaceuticals. The agreement with Mexico's Fermic
is designed to step up the size of Diversa's business to around
$100 million (€79m).
The decision ties in with the current trend of chemical companies choosing to outsource manufacturing capacity rather than making capital investments in new production facilities.
The use of enzymes in industrial applications has been limited, because most enzymes degrade and de-activate under the extreme temperature or pH conditions found in many industrial environments or processes. Diversa has been steadily building its position in industrial enzymes over the last few years - in collaboration with Dow Chemical - via their Innovase joint venture that develops enzymes using DNA directly extracted from natural sources, and gene evolution processes designed to customise enzymes and other biomolecules.
The current market for enzymes used in industrial applications is around $2 billion, but is expected to grow strongly over the next years as concepts such as biocatalysis take hold in the manufacture of drugs and other chemicals.
Under the terms of the agreement, Fermic will provide manufacturing capacity for enzymes exclusively to Diversa. Diversa will co-invest in equipment in exchange for credits for manufacturing services to be provided under the agreement by the Mexican company.
Alessandro Falzoni, Fermic's chief financial officer, noted that the deal cements the relationship between the companies, which have already collaborated on the manufacture of several commercial enzyme products. The company has been involved in scaling up Diversa's proprietary manufacturing processes.
The Mexican company, which has been operating since 1968, operates a US Food and Drug Administration-approved fermentation and synthesis facility that is one of the largest fermentation plants in Latin America. It has more than 1 million litres in fermentation capacity and is in the process of adding new units that will bring this total up to 1.8 million litres.
Fermic is currently producing and supplying bulk active ingredients for production of pharmaceuticals and is working with several customers on production technologies for supplying finished pharmaceutical dosage forms. It also conducts in-house R&D, focusing on strain improvement and production of new biological and chemical products by fermentation and synthesis.
