MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Biotechnology Raising the Ante for Malaysian Economy
Biotechnology Raising the Ante for Malaysian Economy
07/10/2013 (The Star) - From safety airbags to your little black dress and matching stockings, nylon has been a popular synthetic material since its invention in the 1930s.
However, depleting sources of energy essential in the production of the polymer is impacting the industry, prompting many biochemical companies to search for an alternative source of energy.
One is Verdezyne Inc, a leading biochemical producer based in the United States.
Last year, its pilot plant in California successfully created the first renewable nylon fibre from vegetable oil-derived feedstock, specifically palm oil.
Motivated by the success, Verdezyne was keen to embark on a mass-scale production and commercialisation of the renewable fibre, which brought them to the shores of Malaysia for a collaboration with local palm oil producers through the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (BiotechCorp).
Under the collaboration, Verdezyne will set up a biochemical production facility in Malaysia, its first in the Asia-Pacific region.
Verdezyne received the BioNexus Status to facilitate its investment in the planned facility during a special ceremony at the Biotechnology International Advisory Panel (BIO-IAP) meeting in San Francisco last week.
BioNexus Status is a recognition awarded by the Malaysian Government, through BiotechCorp, to qualified companies that undertake value-added biotechnology activities.
BioNexus Malaysia was established to facilitate the marketing of biotechnology industry. It comprises a group of specialised companies and institutions that can support each other to create a centre of excellence, which also sees the companies being given incentives to encourage participation of companies and institutions. Currently, there are 225 BioNexus Status companies, more than 50% of which are already generating revenue, five are currently listed in various stock exchanges and together they have generated some 80,000 jobs.
Excited to receive the BioNexus Status, Verdezyne CEO and president Dr E.William Radany told the press after the ceremony that the status will ease their venture into “uncharted territories”.
“We are taking a very bold move. Nevertheless, Malaysia’s position as one of the largest palm oil producers and its strong drive in the development of the biochemical sector has made it an interesting location to catapult into the world’s largest chemical market, Asia,” he said.
“With the wide array of support and assistance conferred by the BioNexus Status, we could not be more excited about this collaboration and we are eagerly anticipating breaking ground on our first biochemical production facility in Asia, in the coming months.”
The compound that Verdezyne is producing to make renewable nylon fibre is adipic acid -a component of nylon 6.6 - using its patented cost-effective yeast-based fermentation process to derive adipic acid from non food-based vegetable oils.
Verdezyne has began multiple discussions with Malaysia’s palm oil producers and plans to partner with other companies to produce the renewable nylon fibre for various applications, said BiotechCorp CEO Datuk Dr. Mohd Nazlee.
Describing it as a game-changer, Dr Mohd Nazlee added that Verdezyne’s presence in Malaysia will create cascading opportunities for its potential partners who are planning to venture into the downstream production in the palm oil industry.
Crucially, he added, the investment by Verdezyne continues to usher in the new era of biochemical industry in Malaysia.
“We have also successfully secured major investments by CJ Cheil Jedang, Arkema, Gevo, MetEX and GlycosBio. The combined investments from the large companies is about RM5bil,” he said.
However, depleting sources of energy essential in the production of the polymer is impacting the industry, prompting many biochemical companies to search for an alternative source of energy.
One is Verdezyne Inc, a leading biochemical producer based in the United States.
Last year, its pilot plant in California successfully created the first renewable nylon fibre from vegetable oil-derived feedstock, specifically palm oil.
Motivated by the success, Verdezyne was keen to embark on a mass-scale production and commercialisation of the renewable fibre, which brought them to the shores of Malaysia for a collaboration with local palm oil producers through the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (BiotechCorp).
Under the collaboration, Verdezyne will set up a biochemical production facility in Malaysia, its first in the Asia-Pacific region.
Verdezyne received the BioNexus Status to facilitate its investment in the planned facility during a special ceremony at the Biotechnology International Advisory Panel (BIO-IAP) meeting in San Francisco last week.
BioNexus Status is a recognition awarded by the Malaysian Government, through BiotechCorp, to qualified companies that undertake value-added biotechnology activities.
BioNexus Malaysia was established to facilitate the marketing of biotechnology industry. It comprises a group of specialised companies and institutions that can support each other to create a centre of excellence, which also sees the companies being given incentives to encourage participation of companies and institutions. Currently, there are 225 BioNexus Status companies, more than 50% of which are already generating revenue, five are currently listed in various stock exchanges and together they have generated some 80,000 jobs.
Excited to receive the BioNexus Status, Verdezyne CEO and president Dr E.William Radany told the press after the ceremony that the status will ease their venture into “uncharted territories”.
“We are taking a very bold move. Nevertheless, Malaysia’s position as one of the largest palm oil producers and its strong drive in the development of the biochemical sector has made it an interesting location to catapult into the world’s largest chemical market, Asia,” he said.
“With the wide array of support and assistance conferred by the BioNexus Status, we could not be more excited about this collaboration and we are eagerly anticipating breaking ground on our first biochemical production facility in Asia, in the coming months.”
The compound that Verdezyne is producing to make renewable nylon fibre is adipic acid -a component of nylon 6.6 - using its patented cost-effective yeast-based fermentation process to derive adipic acid from non food-based vegetable oils.
Verdezyne has began multiple discussions with Malaysia’s palm oil producers and plans to partner with other companies to produce the renewable nylon fibre for various applications, said BiotechCorp CEO Datuk Dr. Mohd Nazlee.
Describing it as a game-changer, Dr Mohd Nazlee added that Verdezyne’s presence in Malaysia will create cascading opportunities for its potential partners who are planning to venture into the downstream production in the palm oil industry.
Crucially, he added, the investment by Verdezyne continues to usher in the new era of biochemical industry in Malaysia.
“We have also successfully secured major investments by CJ Cheil Jedang, Arkema, Gevo, MetEX and GlycosBio. The combined investments from the large companies is about RM5bil,” he said.