OPXBIO sells fermentation tech to Cargill

UPDATE 5/1/15: OPXBIO stated that it is closing after the transition of its technology and assets to Cargill. A comprehensive article about this is written by Biofuel Digest in this link.

I am in the middle of my newsletter deadline when this announcement popped up in my email inbox. Cargill said it has now acquired the proprietary fermentation-based processes and systems of Colorado-based OPX Biotechnologies, and I am not sure what this means for OPXBIO, which has been in the middle of developing bio-based acrylic acid with Dow Chemical.

Is OPXBIO now closing or is the company going in another direction? OPXBIO has also been in the middle of developing certain fatty acids from CO2 and hydrogen via fermentation under the US DOE’s ARPA-E program.

This news has further shrunk developments in the bio-acrylic acid space after BASF’s announcement that it has abandon its collaboration with Novozymes/Cargill, and now Dow Chemical has probably done the same thing as well with the sale of OPXBIO’s technology to Cargill.

I am sure we will hear more on what will happen to OPXBIO in the next few days. The company’s CEO, Mike Rosenberg, quoted that “Cargill has all the right capabilities and experience to deliver products produced from OPXBIO’s technology to customers.”

The acquisition further expands Cargill’s presence in commercial fermentation products outside of food and feed, the company noted in the press release.