Evolva has not revealed details of the products that it is working on with Abunda but said the work involves the application of its synthetic biology technology to the creation of new production methods for “high-value food ingredients”.
Extension
The extension of the collaboration, which began around a year ago, brings the companies together for at least two more years and involves a wider range of products.
About 10 scientists from Evolva will work on the project, primarily at sites in Denmark and India. Abunda will provide the majority of the funding and Evolva will be entitled to a double-digit share of the total commercial returns from the project.
Abunda is a Californian company with only a two year history but its founders have a strong background in the food industry having held prominent positions in companies like Tate & Lyle and Monsanto.
It is not the first time the Danish company has applied its pharmaceutical expertise in the food sphere.
Vanillin partnership
Earlier this year, it began a research project with academic institutions on both sides of the Atlantic to develop a more eco friendly process for making vanillin.
Discussing the significance of these two food ingredient projects, Evolva CEO and managing director Neil Goldsmith said: “In addition to the vanillin collaboration that we recently announced, this deal demonstrates the versatility of our synthetic biology platform and we are excited by the commercial potential of the products within the collaboration. We are delivering on our promise to increase our partnership portfolio in 2010.”
Describing its synthetic biology platform, Evolva said it “uses biosynthetic and evolutionary technologies to artificially create and optimise small molecule compounds and their production routes.”