DSM to invest in Amyris

Global science-based company Koninklijke DSM has agreed to make a $25m investment in industrial bioscience firm Amyris.

The investment will enable the company to acquire a 12% stake.

The two companies have simultaneously entered an agreement to focus on products for the global health and nutrition markets, including vitamins and other nutritional ingredients.

DSM anticipates that the investment will enable the company to use Amyris’ technology to support its strategic markets in health, nutrition, and materials bio-natural products that have been derived from sustainable sources.

DSM nutritional products president and CEO Chris Goppelsroeder said: “Amyris has a unique yeast-based strain engineering platform that is very complementary to DSM’s capabilities in this area and will create great synergy with DSM’s know-how in fermentation, downstream process development and large-scale manufacturing.

“Working closely together with Amyris and leveraging DSM’s route-to-market, will accelerate our innovation towards cost-effective, fermentation-based processes for both existing and new products."

DSM also intends to invest another $25m in Amyris, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions.

Amyris president and CEO John Melo said: “The Amyris technology platform and potential synergy can lead to significant cost improvements for DSM while accelerating Amyris’s market access.”

The first tranche is expected to close later this month and the second tranche is anticipated to close within 90 days of the closing of the first tranche, subject to the approval of DSM managing board.