Evonik "white bio" day hails above average growth

In a recent white biotechnology day, attend by some 200 people, Germany's Evonik noted that the sector will see above average growth for the industry. It's a message that seems to be gaining momentum, but perhaps more so in rhetoric than in practice.

Evonik argues that the use of renewable raw materials presents special opportunities and prospects for the chemical industry. "Industrial biotechnology provides new approaches to manufacturing novel products with useful properties, or to manufacturing, for example, polymer building blocks and active ingredients by entirely different means. Because it is highly energy- and resource-efficient, white biotechnology is often an alternative to conventional chemical processes."

In the health, nutrition and cosmetic markets, there are constantly new growth opportunities for bio-based products, it adds, showing that white biotechnology has above-average growth prospects. Besides the economic growth opportunities through biotechnology, the event also centered around "renewable resources."

Evonik opens its Science-to-Business Center Biotechnology in January 2007 at its Marl site in Germany, where a host of experts from various disciplines are conducting research in “white biotechnology” in close cooperation with the business units and service units and a large number of external cooperation partners.

By conceiving new biotechnological products and processes, the center seeks to future-proof the core business of Evonik’s Chemicals Business Area. Biotechnological processes, unlike chemical processes, are notable primarily for their low investment costs. This means, for example, that a single bacterium can be used to perform multi-stage production sequences. The bacteria serve as “microbial cell factories.”

DuPont's Kullman talks biotech at Davos

With DuPont in the throes of acquiring Danish biotechnology concern Danisco in its first big ($6.3bn) M&A deal for many years (in fact since it bought the Pioneer seeds business for $7.7bn in 1999), it was no surprise to see it promoting white (industrial) biotech at the just-ended Davos World Economic Forum. DuPont chairman and CEO Ellen Kullman told attendees that bio-based technologies can expand economic opportunities in rural areas while reducing the burden on the environment.

Ellen Kullman - raising

DuPont's biotech game

“Bio-based technologies are an evolution, not a revolution,” Ellen said. “Modern uses of biotechnology, including industrial biotechnology, are just starting and there are vast opportunities to use these tools in new and valuable ways.”

Kullman was serving as a WEF annual meeting co-chair and participated in a forum panel on delivering bio-driven development”. This discussed how bio-based technologies can change the future of development in rural areas.

DuPont is staking a lot on the Danisco purchase but is following the strategy of addressing mega-trends on which this blog has already shed some light. Acquisition is one way to accelerate the move into new technology areas for DuPont. But as with all M&A deals, post-merger delivery is the critical step.

But as Nigel Davis, Insight editor at ICIS, commented recently: "The bid, welcomed as a good fit – and a good price – by Danisco management, puts DuPont in an extremely strong position as it strives to develop the enzymes that will create second-generation biofuels as well as other bio-based products."