Biocatalysis

Correcting our April 1 post on Proteus and Agro Industrie Recherches et Developpements (ARD), the partnership is focused on improving the “bioproduction of natural origin molecules” and not cellulases. Proteus had in fact previously announced an agreement with Syngenta to develop improved enzymes for cellulosic ethanol production.

The goal of developing improved enzymes to increase the efficiency of generating sugar feedstocks for green chemical production continues to attract new players. French biotech company Proteus announced a new partnership with Agro Industrie Recherches et Developpements (ARD) to convert non-food agricultural products into higher value compounds. Proteus has a technology platform based on its L-Shuffling methods for creating diversity for laboratory evolution of enzymes. ARD is a research and development center for agro-industry groups in France specializing in non-food applications. This new partnership joins an already crowded field that includes Novozymes, Danisco-Genencor, Shell-Codexis, and BP-Verenium just to name a few.