Diversa and Givaudan Announce Milestone Achievement
SAN DIEGO and CINCINNATI, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Diversa Corporation (Nasdaq: DVSA - News) and Givaudan Flavors Corporation today announced that they have achieved a key milestone in their collaborative agreement to discover and develop novel enzymes and processes for the cost- effective production of new products for consumer applications. This milestone signifies the successful development of a novel biocatalyst that significantly improves the efficient production of a natural flavor ingredient. The new proprietary biocatalytic process, which will replace an existing chemical process, is currently being scaled up for pilot plant trials. Under the terms of the collaborative agreement initiated in January 2002, Diversa will receive a milestone payment and, upon commercialization, will receive license fees and royalties.
"Our partnership with Diversa Corporation is a reflection of our commitment to developing unique and value-added flavor products and processes through the application of the most advanced technologies available," said Robert Eilerman, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Science & Technology at Givaudan Flavors Corporation. "The teamwork demonstrated by both organizations to meet this key milestone is a validation of our strategy to leverage synergies in our science and technology to commercialize innovative products for our customers. We look forward to completing commercialization of this product in cooperation with Diversa as well as other opportunities in the pipeline."
"Achievement of this important milestone in improving the production process for a flavor ingredient demonstrates the breadth of the applicability of our enabling technologies," stated William H. Baum, Diversa's Executive Vice President and Head of its Chemical, Agricultural, and Industrial Enzyme business.
With more than 200 years of experience in the flavor and fragrance industry, Givaudan currently produces flavors for soft drinks, fruit juices, baked goods, chewing gum, chocolate, ice cream, fresh dairy products, desserts, ready meals, snacks, soups and sauces. In developing new flavors and fragrances, Givaudan invests in R&D activities ranging from the discovery of new molecules to the improvement of delivery systems that allow the release of the flavor or fragrance. |
