US polymer and fibre producer Invista (Wichita, Kansas; www.invista.com) has entered into a collaboration with Portugese-based SilicoLife (Guimaraes; www.silicolife.com), a company which provides computational solutions for industrial biotechnology applications, to develop bio-derived process technologies. One of the initial focus areas will be a bio-based route to butadiene. This agreement follows a collaboration announced earlier this year with US biotechnology group Arzeda (Seattle, Washington; www.arzeda.com), where the two are working together to produce bio-derived butadiene – see Plasteurope.com of 11.02.2013.

The partnership will assist the two companies in the further development of their technology platforms for bio-processes to produce industrial chemicals. The agreement will leverage Invista’s capabilities in biotechnology and catalysis, as well as its chemicals industry knowledge and SilicoLife’s expertise in silico metabolic engineering and rational synthetic biology.

Warren Primeaux, president of Invista Intermediates, said: ”We anticipate this collaboration with SilicoLife will help us accelerate our timeline to develop new bio-derived processes for a range of industrial chemicals – helping us further improve our cost and sustainability position in this area.” SilicoLife’s CEO, Simao Soares, added the collaboration would accelerate the design of optimised microbial strains for the cost-effective production of industrial chemicals from renewable feedstocks.”