Advanced Biofuels


Deinove Confirms Commercialization Potential of Carotenoids Project

Date Posted: February 8, 2016

Montpellier - Feb. 8, 2016 - DEINOVE (Alternext Paris: ALDEI), a biotech company developing innovative processes for producing biofuels and bio-based chemicals by using Deinococcus bacteria as host strains, announces major progress in its carotenoids project.

Researchers are making progress in the development of Deinococcus strains that are hyperproductive of carotenoids:

• Optimization of the strain by the high-throughput genetic engineering platform has increased product yields by a factor of 6 to 8 and thus achieving, for some of these molecules, satisfactory levels for subsequent scale-up;

• Identification of the terminal enzymes involved in the production of different carotenoids allows the production of three additional molecules of the same family from the two platform molecules initially produced.

DEINOVE's goal is to offer a competitive bio-based alternative for manufacturers by developing a range of natural carotenoids (unlike the current production, which is mainly petro-sourced) produced by biotechnological processes and offering significant advantages in terms of supply stability, consistent high quality, conservation of natural resources and also costs.

The next steps of the program are:

• Increasing the final yields and production volumes;

• Development of extraction and purification of these carotenoids to obtain a marketable product;

• Validation of the functional benefit of the molecules produced;

• Continuing regulatory proceedings for market authorization.

"The five molecules now developed in our program are all commercially used in cosmetics, food supplements and animal feed applications.

"The diversity of the targeted markets, in terms of application and geography, and the regulatory approaches associated with each, allows us to consider a number of marketing strategies with the aim of commercializing our first batches of target compounds in two and a half years," says Emmanuel Petiot, CEO of DEINOVE.

"We consider carotenoids as a quick access opportunity to the market.

"At a time when oil price is so low, our biodiversity giving us access to specialty compounds, is a real asset to maximize our chances of success."

For more information, please contact Coralie Martin at +33-0-4-48-19-01-60 or coralie.martin@deinove.com

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