Amyris, Inc. is a synthetic

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

and renewable chemical company headquartered in

Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisco Bay. The resident population was 12,905 ...

. Amyris serves the specialty and performance chemicals, flavors and fragrances, cosmetics ingredients, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals markets.

History

Amyris was founded in 2003. The company owns three brands, Biossance and Pipette, for beauty and skincare, and Purecane, a sugar substitute. The company went public on NASDAQ on September 28, 2010 (AMRS). In November 2011, Amyris acquired Lansing, Michigan-based renewable chemicals and products company, Draths Corporation, for $7 million in stock. ATEL Capital Group acquired a stake in Amyris in December 2011. In January 2016, the company received an investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Strategic Innovation Fund to support the development of

antimalarial medication Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young ...

based on semi-synthetic

artemisinin Artemisinin () and its semisynthetic derivatives are a group of drugs used in the treatment of malaria due to '' Plasmodium falciparum''. It was discovered in 1972 by Tu Youyou, who shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her ...

. In April 2019, the company raised $34-million in private placement of its common stock and warrants. The funding round was led by Foris Ventures and Dr. Wei-wu He, General Partner of Emerging Technology Partners, LLC, a life sciences-focused venture fund. Biossance, the skincare brand from Amyris, was recognized as Digital Innovator of the Year at the WWD Beauty Inc Awards in 2019. In 2020, Amyris received Bonsucro's Chain of Custody Certification, ensuring that the sustainability claims along the sugarcane supply chain are traceable from farmer to end user. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the company collaborated with the

Infectious Disease Research Institute The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) was a non-profit organization based in Seattle, in the United States, and which conducts global health research on infectious diseases. Its new name is Access to Advanced Health Institute (AAHI). ...

(IDRI) to advance a novel ribonucleic acid (RNA) vaccine platform, including accelerating the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. On August 9, 2023, Amyris filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced it will shut down its consumer brands amongst selling itself. The company was delisted from Nasdaq and added to the OTC Markets.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Companies based in Emeryville, California Biotechnology companies of the United States Biotechnology companies established in 2003 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq 2003 establishments in California American companies established in 2003