Diversa Licenses Novel Enzyme Product to Givaudan for Production of Natural Flavor Ingredient
Monday November 22, 5:12 pm ET
SAN DIEGO, and CINCINNATI, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Diversa Corporation (Nasdaq: DVSA - News) and Givaudan Flavors Corporation today announced that Givaudan has licensed Accentuase(TM)-G enzyme, a novel product from Diversa that significantly improves the efficient production of a natural flavor ingredient. The licensed enzyme is part of Diversa's emerging Accentuase(TM) enzyme platform for flavors and fragrances. The new proprietary biocatalytic process incorporating Accentuase-G enzyme, which will replace an existing process used to make the ingredient, has been successfully scaled up by Givaudan for commercial production. Under the terms of the collaborative agreement initiated in January 2002, Diversa will receive a license fee and royalties from Givaudan's sales or use of the flavor ingredient. Diversa will also manufacture the enzyme product for Givaudan under a supply agreement entered into concurrently with this license.
"Commercialization of this product in cooperation with Diversa is a validation of our strategy to develop unique and value-added flavor products and processes through the application of superior, cutting edge technologies," said Robert Eilerman, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Science & Technology at Givaudan Flavors Corporation. "Based on the success of our collaborative product development efforts on this project, we look forward to working with Diversa to explore other opportunities of mutual interest in the future."
"We are extremely pleased that Diversa's integrated product platform has succeeded in rapidly developing a commercial product that enables production of an innovative end-product," stated Jay M. Short, Ph.D., Diversa's President and Chief Executive Officer. "This marks our fourth product introduction for the year and brings to ten the total number of Diversa products that have been commercialized to date. As we continue to develop our pipeline of product candidates, we expect our expanding portfolio of commercialized Bioscience products to drive significant revenue growth over the coming years."
Diversa developed this new enzyme product for Givaudan using its proprietary environmental genomics and evolution technologies. The source of the material used to produce the novel enzyme product was discovered by Diversa scientists during a sample collecting expedition to the African nation of Ghana. Specifically, a fungal gene was recovered from cocoa pods and beans found in the Akim-Asafo Tropical Cloud Forest. Diversa is a leader in product development based on environmental genomics and scientific exploration of remote and often extreme environments.
About Givaudan
Givaudan is the world leader in the creation of flavors, fragrances and specialty ingredients, achieving annual sales exceeding 2 bio USD. With worldwide headquarters in Vernier (Geneva), Switzerland, it has over 5,900 employees and maintains a presence in 40 countries as well as being represented in 70 more. Having over 200 years of experience in the flavor and fragrance industry, Givaudan currently creates 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. For more information see www.givaudan.com.... |
