GLOBAL BIOENERGIES STRENGTHENS ITS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY POSITION IN THE FIELD OF DIRECT FERMENTATIVE PRODUCTION OF ISOBUTENE AND OTHER LIGHT OLEFINS

Evry, France, Nov. 02, 2016 -- GLOBAL BIOENERGIES strengthens its intellectual property position in the field of direct fermentative production of isobutene and other light olefins.

Evry (France), 02 November 2016 - Global Bioenergies (Alternext Paris: ALGBE) has strengthened its leadership in the field of biologically produced isobutene and other light olefins by reinforcing its IP position. The company's portfolio of exclusive rights was recently strengthened by the issuance of several patents as well as by the exclusive in-licensing of third party IP.

Global Bioenergies is a pioneer in the field of direct fermentation to light olefins such as isobutene, butadiene and propylene. Direct fermentation is an approach wherein all transformation steps from feedstock to product are performed within a microorganism, in contrast with hemi-synthesis, a combination of fermentation and chemical conversion. This approach has already been recognized by several industry leaders, and the company considers strengthening and broadening its Intellectual Property (IP) position as a strategic issue, to maintain and reinforce its leadership in the field.

As of today, Global Bioenergies' IP portfolio, combining proprietary patents and patents exploited under exclusive rights, includes 32 patent families. The relevance of this portfolio has been confirmed by the granting of several patents in 2016, with a total of 38 issued patents today in several countries. This portfolio covers, among others, key aspects of bio-isobutene production through different possible routes involving enzymes such as mevalonate diphosphate decarboxylase. In addition, Global Bioenergies recently enriched its IP portfolio by exclusively in-licensing a patent family covering the production of several light olefins using alternative enzymes named Ferulic acid decarboxylases (FDC) or Phenylacrylic Acid decarboxylase (PAD).

Frederic Pâques, COO of Global Bioenergies, comments: "While we continue to file patents on our own, we are also progressively moving to a more open approach, in which we define ourselves as a technology integrator. We believe that we have today a strong hold on all the industrially relevant routes for the direct fermentative production of isobutene, from all possible kinds of feedstocks, including first and second generation sugars as well as syngas or carbon dioxide."

Marc Delcourt, CEO of Global Bioenergies, adds: "The soon-to-come completion of the Leuna Demo plant is changing the company's whole posture. We are transitioning from an R&D-driven structure to an integrated industrialist positioning. In-licensing technology segments from third parties will help us out-licensing our processes to exploiting entities."

About GLOBAL BIOENERGIES

Global Bioenergies is one of the few companies worldwide, and the only one in Europe, that is developing a process to convert renewable resources into hydrocarbons through fermentation. The Company initially focused its efforts on the production of isobutene, one of the most important petrochemical building blocks that can be converted into fuels, plastics, organic glass and elastomers. Global Bioenergies continues to improve the performances of its process, operates its industrial pilot, is completing the construction of its demo plant in Germany, and prepares the first full-scale plant through a Joint-Venture with Cristal Union, named IBN-One. The company also replicated its achievement to propylene and butadiene, two members of the gaseous olefins family, key molecules at the heart of petrochemical industry. Global Bioenergies is listed on Alternext, Euronext Paris (FR0011052257 - ALGBE).

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Contact

GLOBAL BIOENERGIES
Frédéric PÂQUES
Chief Operations Officer
Phone:                 +33 (0)1 64 98 20 50
Email: [email protected]

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