Genomatica enters into collaboration with DSM

Genomatica, a leading computational systems biology company focused on metabolism research, has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with DSM, a global supplier of ingredients based on fermentation and enzyme technology to the chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries.

Under the terms of the agreement DSM will license SimPheny, Genomatica's modeling and simulation platform, to help guide its research efforts for a broad application range, including strain engineering and process development. In addition, the two will jointly develop and implement within SimPheny a metabolic model of a proprietary production organism key to DSM. Financial details were not disclosed, but do include license fees and milestone payments.

'Genomatica's SimPheny platform will be an important element in DSM's newly designed Genomics and Bio-IT infrastructure,' said Dr. Bob Poldermans, research director at DSM Food Specialties. 'We see a lot of opportunities for improving our biotechnological processes through an integrated use of the genomics disciplines. The powerful modeling capabilities of SimPheny will prove to be of great help in reaching our goals.'

In addition to licensing its technology to DSM, Genomatica entered into a license agreement with Kyowa Hakko, a major Japanese biotechnology company, in January of this year.