INDUSTRY

SAN DIEGO, Genomatica, Inc., announced today that it has entered into a research agreement with The Dow Chemical Company that will utilize Genomatica's proprietary modeling platform, SimPheny(TM), to develop an in silico metabolic model for Dow's use in microbial metabolism and bioprocess modeling. The in silico model will also allow Dow to predict the effect of genetic changes made to a microorganism before running experiments and provide a focal point for the integration of high throughput experimental data, which will help streamline research. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but include research support as well as milestone payments. "We are excited to be working with Dow, whose longstanding commitment to technology innovation is well known, and exemplified by their recent National Medal of Technology award," said Christophe Schilling, Chief Technical Officer of Genomatica. "We believe that Genomatica's detailed modeling of the metabolic pathways in the organism of interest will enable Dow to better harness the microbe's bioindustrial processing capabilities. This collaboration is an excellent example of how Genomatica's proprietary cellular-level models can capitalize on the complexity of systems biology and accelerate biological discovery and engineering." "Dow is continually looking for access to useful new technologies in the bioprocessing and biotechnology fields," said Mani Subramanian, Dow's Global Leader of Biotechnology and Bioprocessing Research and Development. "A better understanding of microbial metabolic processes gained through Genomatica's modeling technologies will provide Dow the ability to do rational microbial strain improvement and metabolic engineering. This will allow more efficient bioprocess development."