Diversa and Degussa Enter Agreement to Develop Biocatalysts For Pharmaceutical Fine Chemical Applications
SAN DIEGO and DUSSELDORF, Germany, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Diversa Corporation (Nasdaq: DVSA - news) and Degussa AG (German Stock Exchange DGXG.X) today announced that they have entered into an agreement to evaluate and commercialize selected biocatalysts for specialty chemicals and pharmaceutical fine chemical applications. Under the terms of the agreement, Diversa will supply biocatalysts to the Project House Biotechnology at Degussa for evaluation and process development. Degussa will pay an initial fee to access Diversa's proprietary biocatalysts as well as additional fees associated with the commercial development efforts. In addition, Degussa will pay license fees and royalties on products commercialized as part of the agreement.
``Diversa has demonstrated the success of their technologies by developing a wide variety of novel biocatalysts that exhibit superior performance characteristics such as high activity, stability and enantioselectivity, key requirements for the production of specialty chemicals,'' stated Stefan Buchholz, Ph.D., Head of Project House Biotechnology at Degussa. ``By partnering with Diversa, we can accelerate our internal efforts to develop proprietary products utilizing biological processes.''
``Degussa has made a substantial financial and resource commitment by creating the Project House Biotechnology with the objective to further enhance their global leadership position in the manufacture of specialty chemicals,'' stated Jay M. Short, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Diversa Corporation. ``We are pleased to be able to bring our unique technologies together to help accelerate their efforts and commercialize high-value products, such as for pharmaceutical applications.''
Diversa Corporation is a global leader in developing and applying proprietary technologies to discover and evolve novel genes and gene pathways from diverse sources. The Company is utilizing its fully integrated approach to develop novel enzymes and other biologically active compounds, such as orally active drugs, produced by these genes and gene pathways. The Company's proprietary evolution technologies facilitate the optimization of genes to enable product solutions for the pharmaceutical, agricultural, chemical processing, and industrial markets. Within these broad markets, the Company is targeting key multi-billion dollar market segments where it believes its technologies and products will create high value and competitive advantages for strategic partners and customers. The Company's strategic partners are market leaders and include Aventis Animal Nutrition S.A., Celera Genomics, The Dow Chemical Company, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Invitrogen Corporation, and Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. The Company has also formed joint ventures with The Dow Chemical Company (named Innovase LLC) and with Syngenta Seeds AG (named Zymetrics, Inc.). Additional information is available at Diversa's website: www.diversa.com .
Degussa is an entirely newly formed, globally active corporation consistently aligned to high-yield specialty chemistry. Its activities are led by the vision that everybody benefits from a Degussa product -- every day and everywhere. With a workforce of some 63,000 employees, the corporation generated sales of Euro 16.9 billion and earnings before interest, tax and amortization (EBITA) of Euro 1.2 billion in fiscal 2000. Degussa's strength lies in high-impact system solutions tailored to the requirements of customers in over 100 countries of the world... |
