DNP Green Technology forms scientific partnership with NRC Biotechnology Research Institute

Princeton, NJ – DNP Green Technology, one of the two shareholders of Bioamber, has formed a scientific agreement with the National Research Council of Canada Biotechnology Research Institute (NRC-BRI). The partnership aims to develop a second-generation technology for the production of bio-based succinic acid, which is used in various industrial applications.

Succinic acid is a building block for the production of other chemicals that are used in products such as deicers, food and pharmaceutical chemicals, solvents and polymers (polyesters, polyurethanes and polyamides). Bioamber’s technology provides a route to bio-based succinic acid which represents a safe, economical, and environmentally friendly alternative to petrochemicals.

“This research partnership with NRC-BRI will broaden our knowledge of microbial systems to manufacture bio-based succinic acid and derivatives,” says Dr Roger Laurent Bernier, vice-president R&D of DNP Green Technology. “We aim to improve even the best available technology by using new bioprocessing approaches and concepts and benefit from NRC’s expertise and world-class facilities.”

Bioamber, a joint venture of DNP Green Technology and Agro-Industrie Recherches et Développements (ARD), had already developed a first-generation technology for producing bio-based succinic acid. Bioamber’s technology also offers an important environmental advantage: it consumes CO2, as opposed to equivalent petrochemical processes that emit greenhouse gases. Bioamber says it expects to begin licensing the first-generation technology in the coming year.

“NRC-BRI is looking forward to working with DNP Green Technology and Bioamber,” said Dr Michel Desrochers, director general of NRC-BRI. “By developing an even better technology to produce bio-based succinic acid, we will be helping to deliver an environmentally friendly alternative to petrochemicals.”

This initiative builds on a close working relationship that includes an ongoing carbohydrate screening program which allows researchers to assess sugar streams from different potential sources, such as corn, sugarcane, wheat, ligno-cellulose and glycerol to determine their economic impact as feedstocks in Bioamber’s succinic acid production process. This screening program is instrumental in assessing feedstocks from around the world.