Amyris Biotechnologies, the California-based developer of biofuels using pathway engineering technology, has successfully completed its IPO, raising $84.8 million. Based on its $16 per share price, the company is valued at $680 million.
The company is the leading developer of engineered organisms for producing terpenes, including farnesene, a C-15 sesquiterpene. Hydrogenating farnesene produces farnesane, the company’s biodiesel product. The original development and commercial proof of Amyris’s technology was for the production of artemisinin to treat malaria, developed with significant funding from the Gates Foundation. Sanofi-Aventis is producing artemisinin commercially for distribution in third world countries where malaria is prevalent.
Other terpene based products are planned according to reports by Amyris.
