Invista biotech collaboration

Lycra and nylon manufacturer Invista is to collaborate with Ingenza, a leading industrial biotechnology and synthetic biology company, on the development of bio-derived processes for the production of industrial chemicals.

The collaboration will bring together Invista’s capabilities in biotechnology and catalysis, and knowledge of the chemicals industry and Ingenza’s synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology capabilities.

“Invista believes biotechnology has the potential to significantly improve the cost and availability of several chemicals and raw materials that are used to produce its current products,” said the company’s president Warren Primeaux.

Ingenza, based in Roslin, Edinburgh, Scotland, has a broad customer base within the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, feed and fuel industries where it applies its proprietary synthetic biology to manufacture industrial products.

It has also recently entered into a multi-year collaboration with acrylics leader Lucite.

Pictured (left to right) are: Doug Karber, vice president of nylon intermediates for Invista; Bill Greenfield, Invista’s executive vice president of nylon intermediates; Jaymin Amin, Ingenza chief operating officer; Invista Intermediates president Warren Primeaux, Ian Fotheringham, president of Ingenza; Franck Escalettes, head of molecular biology for Ingenza and Gary Smith, vice president of sustainability for Invista Intermediates.