30 Hottest Companies in Renewable Chemicals sneak preview: OPX Biotechnologies

Note to Community members: Welcome to the sneak preview of the 30 Hottest Companies in Renewable Chemicals competition. This month, we are profiling nominees (not winners). Above, we are asking you to rate the companies. Digest Community member ratings will form 33 percent of the overall ballot for this years Hot 30.

Company name:

OPX Biotechnologies, Inc

Company description:

OPXBIO is a Colorado-based company using biotechnology to convert renewable raw materials into biochemicals and biofuels. Applying its proprietary EDGE™ (Efficiency Directed Genome Engineering) technology, it will manufacture bio-based products that are more economical and sustainable than petroleum-based alternatives. OPXBIO’s first product will be bioacrylic, which will be the chemical equivalent of petroleum-based acrylic, which is currently an $8 billion market that is growing at 4% per year. OPXBIO intends to produce bioacrylic at a lower cost ($0.50/lb) than petroleum-based ($0.65 – 0.75/lb today) and will commercialize bioacrylic through a joint venture with the first plant being operational in 2014. OPXBIO’s second product is biodiesel, which it is working on through a $6 million grant from the U.S. DOE ARPA-E program. The company is partnered with the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and Johnson Matthey to biologically produce biodiesel through fermentation from carbon dioxide and renewable hydrogen. OPXBIO’s EDGE™ technology allows it to optimize the microbe and bioprocess 1,000 to 5,000 times faster than traditional genome or microbial engineering, and it is extremely robust allowing OPXBIO to work on multiple products and utilize numerous feed stocks.

Address: 2425 55th Street, Suite 100, Boulder, CO 80301

Year Founded: 2007

Chief Executive Officer and contact email:

CEO and President is Charles (Chas) Eggert

Annual Revenues:

Undisclosed

Major Investors (if a public company, please provide trading symbol and exchange).

Mohr Davidow Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures, Altira Group, and X/Seed Capital.

Type of Processing Technology(ies) : (if applicable)

The OPXBIO EDGE™ (Efficiency Directed Genome Engineering) technology platform enables rapid, rational, and robust optimization of microbes and bioprocesses to manufacture bioproducts with equivalent performance and improved sustainability at lower cost compared to petroleum-based alternatives. Using EDGE, OPXBIO identifies the genes that control microbial metabolism and then implement a comprehensive, rational genetic change strategy to simultaneously optimize microbial production pathways and vitality as well as overall bioprocess productivity. EDGE includes a first-of-its-kind, massively parallel, full genome search technology known as SCALEs. The EDGE technology is 1,000 to 5,000 times faster than conventional genetic engineering methods, meaning OPXBIO creates optimized microbes and bioprocesses within months rather than years. The bottom line: OPX EDGE makes possible biofuels and green chemistry products that have up to 50 percent lower cost than petroleum-based alternatives.

Products: (renewable chemicals (base, fine, speciality, or platform), or bio-based materials (plastics, polymers, monomers, resins, lubricants, inks, detergents, surfactants, rubbers, adhesives, hardeners, additives, or other materials)

OPXBIO’s first products are biobased acrylic acid and bio-diesel.

Feedstocks:

OPXBIO’s EDGE (Efficiency Directed Genome Engineering) technology platform allows the production of a number of biochemicals and biofuels from a range of feedstocks, such as sucrose from sugarcane, dextrose from corn, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen from syngas.

Product Cost (if applicable – per US pound): (If you do not manufacture or have long-term stable feedstock pricing, please use the latest December futures contract pricing for traded feedstocks, or $55/ton for untraded biomass – or provide notes on your own feedstock pricing assumptions).

OPXBIO intends to produce bioacrylic acid at $0.50/lb utilizing dextrose as its feedstock at a cost of $0.14/lb, which is less than the cost to produce petroleum-based acrylic which is $0.65 – 0.75/lb based on propylene prices in the range of $0.60 – 0.75/lb.

Offtake partners (if applicable)

OPXBIO completed the pilot scale development for its first product, BioAcrylic, in 2010. It is now in the process of securing a strategic partner for the commercialization of its first product. Offtake agreements and partners will be secured over the next several years prior to commercialization in 2014.

Co-products (if applicable) (e.g. feed, fuel)

Not Applicable

3 Top Milestones for 2009‐10

OPXBIO completed the pilot development of its first commercial product, BioAcrylic, in 2010. The development was initially completed in laboratory scale fermentors of 10L and scaled up with an external party to over 250L.
OPXBIO was awarded the largest single grant from the second round of funding of the U.S. DOE ARPA-E program – Electofuels. OPXBIO teamed with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the U.S. Subsidiary of Johnson Matthey for the development of an energy dense liquid fuel (biodiesel) for transportation made biologically through fermentation of renewable hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
OPXBIO reduced bioacrylic production cost by over 95 percent toward its commercial target of $0.50/lb.

3 Major Milestone Goals for 2011‐13

Secure strategic partner for the commercialization of OPXBIO’s first product, BioAcrylic.
Initiate and complete demonstration scale production of BioAcrylic in 2011/12 and initiate the engineering and construction of the first commercial scale BioAcrylic production for start up in 2014.
Complete the U.S. DOE ARPA-E program by developing a pilot scale microbe and bioprocess for the production of biodiesel via fermentation of hydrogen and carbon dioxide.

Business Model: (e.g. owner-operator, technology licensor, fee-based industry supplier, investor)

The company is focused on developing microbes and bioprocesses that can cost effectively produce bio-based chemicals and fuels. Most of this work is done at the pilot scale (laboratory or bench scale) and demonstration scale (100,000’s of lbs per year). To develop the commercial scale facilities (100,000,000’s of lbs per year), the company intends to enter into strategic partnerships and joint ventures. The company intends to participate in the commercialization of all its products as a joint venture partner. OPXBIO will fund its own technology development and the initial development of new bio-based chemicals and fuels.  This strategy allows OPXBIO to concentrate on its core competencies of microbe and bioprocess development and leverage the expertise of its partners for commercialization.

Competitive Edge(s):

OPXBIO’s first product will be BioAcrylic, which will be the chemical equivalent of petroleum-based acrylic. The current market for petroleum-based acrylic is currently $8 billion and is growing at 4% per year. OPXBIO intends to produce BioAcrylic at a lower cost ($0.50/lb) than petroleum-based ($0.65 – 0.75/lb today) and will commercialize BioAcrylic through joint venture with the first plant being operational in 2014. OPXBIO’s second product is biodiesel, which it is working on through a $6 million grant from the U.S. DOE ARPA-E program. The company is partnered with NREL and Johnson Matthey to biologically produce biodiesel through fermentation from carbon dioxide and renewable hydrogen.

OPXBIO’s proprietary EDGE™ technology allows it to optimize the microbe and bioprocess 1,000 to 5,000 times faster than traditional genome or microbial engineering, and it is extremely robust allowing OPXBIO to work on multiple products and utilize numerous feed stocks. The EDGE technology has allowed OPXBIO to engineer a microbe and bioprocess that achieved over 95% of its cost reduction goals in less than 18-months, versus typical approaches that can take 7 to 10 years.

Distribution, Research, Marketing or Production Partnerships or Alliances.

In progress and soon to be announced.

Stage (Bench, pilot, demonstration, commercial) Pilot moving into demonstration scale in 2011

Projected production volume for 2011: N/A

Website URL

http://www.opxbiotechnologies.com