Amyris, Inc., a synthetic biotechnology company active in the clean health and beauty markets through its consumer brands and a top supplier of sustainable and natural ingredients, announced that it has signed an agreement with Ingredion Incorporated, a leading global ingredient solutions provider to the food and beverage industry, for the exclusive licensing of Amyris’s zero-calorie, nature-based, fermented Reb M sweetener. In addition, the agreement includes an Ingredion minority ownership stake in the Amyris Brazilian manufacturing facility that is currently under construction.
The combination of Amyris’s synthetic biology technology platform to develop, scale and produce fermentation-based products with Ingredion’s global market and customer reach, formulation capabilities and commercial teams will accelerate the availability and adoption of zero-calorie, nature-based sweeteners and other clean labeled fermentation-based food ingredients to the world’s leading food and beverage companies.
Ingredion, via its PureCircle subsidiary, will become the exclusive global business-to-business commercialization partner for Amyris’s sugar reduction technology that includes fermented Reb M.
The parties will enter into an R&D collaboration agreement to create and advance the development of sustainably sourced, zero-calorie, nature-based sweeteners and potentially other types of fermentation-based food ingredients.
Ingredion will become a minority partner in the Amyris Brazilian manufacturing facility that is currently under construction.
Amyris will continue to own and market its Purecane™ consumer brand offering of tabletop and culinary sweetener products.
The transaction value is estimated to be $100 million. This includes $75 million for the exclusive license to sell and market Reb M from fermentation plus a contribution for a participation in the Brazil manufacturing joint venture. Additionally, Amyris will earn a profit share from Reb M sales.
