Following a renewed investment by its partner The Coca-Cola Company (Atlanta, Georgia / USA; www.thecoca-colacompany.com), US biotechnology company Virent (Madison, Wisconsin; www.virent.com) is set to raise the output of its bio-based paraxylene, “BioFormPX”. The exact investment figure was not disclosed. Virent said the money would go towards scaling up the separation and purification of its BioFormPX at its 10,000 gallon/year demonstration plant in Madison.

Explaining the rationale behind the investment, Coca-Cola’s Scott Vitters, general manager of the PlantBottle Innovation Forum, said the progress made by Virent “advances us on the path to a full-scale commercial solution for our 100% plant-based PET packaging.” Virent is not the only biotechnology company supported by the global drinks giant. Coca-Cola has also made multi-million dollar investments in Gevo (Englewood, Colorado / USA; www.gevo.com) and Avantium (Amsterdam / The Netherlands; www.avantium.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 20.12.2011.

Virent has been collaborating with Coca-Cola since 2011, a cooperation that Virent CEO Lee Edwards says is “critical in attracting manufacturing partners from the PET supply chain” to the biotechnology company's “BioFormPX”. A drop-in replacement for petroleum-based products, Virent uses catalytic chemistry to produce plant-based materials.