Syngenta: Biofuels Digest’s 5-Minute Guide

(In this profile, we focus on Syngenta’s Enogen corn)

Address: 11055 Wayzata Blvd., Minnetonka, MN 55305

Year founded: 2000

Annual Revenues: $11.6 billion

Company description: One of the world’s leading companies with more than 26,000 employees in over 90 countries dedicated to bringing plant potential to life.

Major Investors New York Stock Exchange (SYT)

Type of Technology(ies) Biotechnology

Products: Biotech seeds

Product Cost:

Dry-grind ethanol plants using Enogen corn can realize an additional value of 8 to 10 cents per gallon due to energy savings and increased throughput.

Past Milestones

• USDA deregulation (February 2011)
• Establishing trial for proof of performance (Western Plains Energy, 2009-2010)
• Commercial production of Enogen corn hybrids with yields equal to or greater than hybrids without the technology

• In December 2012, the company picked up the Biofuels Digest Award for New Trait Deployment, for Enogen corn.
• Syngenta and Plymouth Energy signed an agreement to use Enogen trait technology starting in fall 2013. Syngenta states that when using Enogen trait technology there is no need to use liquid alpha amylase enzyme for dry grind ethanol production.
• The technology improves ethanol production while reducing energy, gas and water usage. Syngenta is currently contracting corn growers to grow Enogen corn. Under the agreement, growers will receive a premium price for each bushel of Enogen grain delivered to the ethanol plant.
• In November 2012, Syngenta announced it had signed a commercial agreement with a Kansas ethanol plant to use grain featuring Enogen trait technology in 2013. Bonanza BioEnergy of Garden City will use the revolutionary technology that allows corn to express a robust form of alpha amylase enzyme, the primary enzyme used in dry grind ethanol production to convert starch to sugars.
• In September 2012, Syngenta agreed to acquire Pasteuria Bioscience, a US-based biotechnology company. Since 2011 Syngenta and Pasteuria have had an exclusive global technology partnership to develop and commercialize biological products to control plant-parasitic nematodes, using the naturally occurring soil bacteria Pasteuria spp. An in-vitro production process will enable the development of cost-effective nematicides with a novel mode of action. The first product will be a seed treatment for soybean cyst nematode to be launched in the USA in 2014. Under the terms of the agreement, Syngenta will acquire Pasteuria Bioscience for aggregate payments of $86 million, with additional deferred payments of up to $27 million.

Future Milestones

• First commercialization in ethanol plants
• Proof of contracted production system with ethanol plants
• Expanded quantification of value added

Business Model: Combination owner-operator and technology licensor

Competitive Edge(s): New to the world product – a commonly used enzyme delivered in a revolutionary way that creates added value for ethanol plants and corn producers alike.

Stage: Commercial

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