BASIC Associates: On Global Bioenergies, Biochemicals and Bioplastics

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

On Global Bioenergies, Biochemicals and Bioplastics

By Robin J. Johnson, Ph.D.

Financing agents were undoubtedly pleased when Global Bioenergies of Evry, France, recently announced successful production of isobutene from glucose. The company is using synthetic biology to engineer microorganisms to produce chemicals from biobased sources. Their isobutene technology involves introducing genes that produce enzymes for isobutene biosynthesis. Isobutene has been used in the manufacture of the now-banned gasoline additive, MTBE, and is currently used in the production of isooctane (another fuel additive) and butyl rubber, among other products. The company has exclusive license to technology patented by company cofounder Philippe Marlière.

Alkenes represent an important intermediate in chemical synthesis. The market for polymers of alkenes, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, is enormous. These polymers represent only a portion of chemical applications of alkenes. Today, alkenes are largely produced during petroleum refining processes such as catalytic cracking. (In the petrochemical industry, alkenes are referred to as olefins.) Global Energies' technology allows alkenes to be synthesized from renewable sources such as starch, sugar, or cellulosic materials.

According to a recent Marlière patent, alkenes such as isobutene can be produced by enzymatic decarboxylation of 3-hydroxyalkanoic acids. Certain bacteria produce 3-hydroxyalkanoic acids as building blocks for a type of bioplastic called polyhydroxyalkanoic acids or PHA. The bacteria use PHA for storing energy in much the same way animals use fat. (In fact, the biosynthetic pathway for PHA building blocks is related to metabolic pathways for fatty acids). Bacteria that make PHA can use a wide variety of carbon sources for its synthesis. Marlière’s PCT patent application WO 2010/001078 describes a process where the natural metabolic process for making PHA is subverted for the purpose of making alkenes.

Global Bioenergies is not the only company looking at PHA bioplastics as a source of industrial chemicals. The Massachusetts-based company, Metabolix, is also evaluating PHA as a source of industrial chemicals. In 2007, they received $2 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop a commercially viable process for producing biobased chemicals from renewable agricultural sources. Patent information on Metabolix's technology indicates that the starting material for chemical production is the actual PHA bioplastic itself. That is to say, PHA polymer is treated in various ways to yield several types of industrial chemicals.

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About BASIC

Unlike other investor services, BASIC Associates focuses not on the financials, but on the science behind various R&D initiatives in bioproducts. Sound science, after all, is the ultimate driver of profitability in the industry. We believe that a superior understanding of the science behind the business model reduces uncertainty and risk and allows for better decision-making by investors and stakeholders.

The principals at BASIC Associates use their doctoral training, coupled with years of experience researching and writing about biofuels, biochemicals, and other bioproducts, to provide an accessible science-oriented analysis of companies and projects in this growing market.

Meet the Principals

Robin J. Johnson, Ph.D.

Dr. Johnson is a cofounder of BASIC Associates. She previously worked as a curator for Garbrook Knowledge Resources, which she joined in March of 2007. Prior to joining Garbrook, she was a Scientist at Genstruct, a systems biology company that creates computer models of biological pathways, and a curator/editor at Incyte and later Biobase, working on the Proteome BiKnowledge Library. (Proteome was a successful knowledge company that provided comprehensive annotation of the proteomes of a variety of organisms, including humans.) As an assistant Professor of Biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine from 1985-2003, Dr. Johnson taught Medical School and did research in the field of cellular neurobiology. She has numerous publications to her credit. Dr. Johnson received her B.S. in Biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and her Ph.D. in Anatomy from Boston University. Her postdoctoral studies of viral infection in the nervous system were performed at Yale University School of Medicine Section of Cell Biology.

Daniela Sciaky, Ph.D.

Dr. Sciaky, a cofounder of BASIC Associates, is a scientific expert in plant biotechnology and biofuels and bioproduct processes. From 2006 to 2010, she was the senior content expert at Garbrook Knowledge Resources, where she contributed her expertise to the gathering and organization of biofuels and bioproduct information. From 1998 to 2006, she curated the scientific literature on a wide variety of topics, including plant and yeast molecular biology, helping to develop content for the Proteome databases. She has also held research positions with Children's Hospital of Cincinnati and Albany Medical College and faculty and research positions at the University of Cincinnati and Brookhaven National Laboratory. During the course of her career, Dr. Sciaky has served as a peer reviewer for the US Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation, and the US Department of Energy, in addition to reviewing papers for the The Plant Cell, Biochemistry, Planta, Nucleic Acids Research, Plasmid, Bio/Technology and BioScience journals.

Dr. Sciaky received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Genetics from Washington State University and her B.S. in Biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She did post-doctoral research at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY. She has presented at numerous scientific conferences and is well published in plant disease and natural systems as well as other fields.

Henrique Oliveira, MBA

Henrique, a cofounder of BASIC Associates, worked as a curator for Garbrook Knowledge Resources from 2008 to 2010. A citizen of both Brazil and the United States, he received his MBA in Finance in 2008 from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he was awarded a fellowship by the University’s William Davidson Institute to conduct research on Brazil’s 35-year experience with biofuels. As a Fellow of the Institute, Henrique spent several months in 2007 touring biofuel facilities in Brazil with Tom MacDonald, a senior researcher with the California Energy Commission and the head of MacDonald Associates, a boutique consulting firm specializing in alcohol transportation fuel.

Prior to joining Garbrook, Henrique worked as a consultant for Hart Energy’s Global Biofuels Center. He has extensive business experience in Brazil and has authored a number of reports on the country's biofuels industry, which, because of its size and depth, impacts alternative energy initiatives worldwide. Henrique has also written editorials on the Brazilian ethanol and sugar industry for various publications.