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BioEnergy International Acquires OmniGene Bioproducts.
US - BioEnergy International, LLC a privately-held, biotech-based developer and manufacturer of next-generation, renewable biochemicals and biofuels, has aquired OmniGene Bioproducts, Inc.OBI, based in Cambridge, Massechusets, possesses core competencies and proprietary Bacillus host technology and metabolic pathway engineering expertise to develop efficient strains for the fermentative production of commercial products.
Bioenergy will integrate the OBI employees into the company.
OBI's scientists are industry leaders with a broad range of expertise in molecular biology, cell biology, and fermentation technology, with Bacillus subtilis, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Escherichia coli, Streptomyces, and yeast species.
"The addition of Jan Pero, Rog Yocum, and their world-renowned R&D team, as well as their library of proprietary strains, organisms and plasmids, represents an enormous complement to and expansion of BioEnergy's existing cutting-edge microbial platform development," said Stephen J. Gatto, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BioEnergy.
"OBI's track record of successfully commercializing products over the years has clearly set them apart in the marketplace. We look forward to their immediate contributions toward making BioEnergy the premier industrial bioproducts player in the industry."
The OBI personnel will be incorporated into BioEnergy's existing Research & Development Group, located in Woburn, MA. "As attractive as OBI's proprietary organism portfolio is, the real strength of this transaction is the addition of this entire team's core competency and track record of metabolic pathway engineering," said Dr. Joseph Glas, Senior Vice President of BioEnergy's R&D Group. "The OBI scientists represent an immediate enhancement and growth of BioEnergy's strain improvement & development program for biochemicals and biofuels."
Dr. Janice Pero, President of OBI, has over 25 years of experience in research management and is an expert in gene regulation, excelling in the genetic engineering and molecular biology of Bacillus and Streptomyces species. Dr. Pero was an Associate Professor at Harvard University, and a founder of BioTechnica International in 1981, before starting OBI in 1995. Dr. Pero received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard University.
Dr. Rog Yocum, Senior Program Director at OBI, is an expert in genetic engineering of biochemical pathways in bacteria and yeast, and genetic engineering of industrial yeasts. Dr. Yocum was a founder of BioTechnica International in 1981 and served as a Program Director before joining OBI as a founding member. Dr. Yocum received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Harvard University.
"We are pleased that OBI's approach, which combines our expertise in genetic engineering with computer-controlled fermentation technology to develop highly productive strains that convert inexpensive sugars into high value specialty products, is completely complementary to BioEnergy's strategic mission," said Dr. Pero. "We are excited to combine our resources in the development of further proprietary technology and strains."
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