Obama, Malaysia, Verdezyne, and Business as Unusual in the Bioeconomy

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) How a small, development-stage industrial biotech company, making chemicals you never heard of, landed $48M in new investment and a $100M valuation from investors like BP.
And how they got so hot that figures like President Obama and the Malaysian Prime Minister attend an investment signing ceremony.
In Malaysia, Verdezyne has negotiated key terms for an investment of $48 million led by Malaysian multinational conglomerate, Sime Darby Berhad. The initiative was launched in a ceremony on Monday, April 28, at the Ritz-Carlton in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, attended by United States President Barack Obama, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak, Verdezyne President and CEO E. William Radany, Ph.D., and Sime Darby Berhad President and Group Chief Executive, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Mohd Bakke Salleh.
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Why Verdezyne? Think nylons, polyesters, giobers, polyurethanes, lubricants and resins. All made from obscure, low-cost feedstocks that allow the company to match (or beat) petroleum-based equivalents on price and performance, while reducing carbon emissions.
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Why Malaysia?Think palm production residue. ...
How do they do it? In a word, engineered yeast. OK, that’s two words.
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Notice that there’s a lot of oxygen in these organic acids — that’s an advantage for biobased, because biomass comes with its own oxygen, while petrochemical feedstocks need supplemental oxygen, and lots of it — as much as 50% of the molecule by weight will come from outside the petroleum barrel. READ MORE