Paris (France), September 15, 2010 – DEINOVE (Alternext : ALDEI), the world’s leading specialist in the application of deinococci bacteria to biofuels and green chemistry, today announced the payment by Oseo of the first installment, of k€ 1 401 in a total of €6 millions funding granted to the DEINOL project, within the Oseo-ISI Programme.
“The DEINOL project, officially launched on February 28th , 2010, is progressing well, according to the plan”, comments CEO Jacques Biton. “Six months after it started, five thermophilic deinococci candidates have been selected. One of them is aimed at becoming the future Deinococcus robust thermophilic host of biomass digestion and fermentation properties, to be properly engineered for lab pilot trials.”
The DEINOL project is developing breakthrough industrial production processes for the global biofuels market. The goal of the €21.4 million DEINOL project is to open up (by 2014) new pathways for lignocellulosic (“second- generation”) ethanol production in existing industrial installations and without the need for massive additional investment. OSEO has awarded €8.9 million to the DEINOL project, with €6 million going to Deinove. The other partners in the Deinove-led project are Tereos (the European leader in ethanol production) and two academic labs (the CNRS/University of Montpellier 1 lab CPBS and the INSA Toulouse/CNRS/INRA lab LISBP).
About DEINOVE
The greentech company DEINOVE is dedicated to the development and commercial exploitation of innovative technological processes for the production of biofuels and other compounds of industrial or pharmaceutical interest, by exploiting the deinococci’s exceptional natural properties. DEINOVE intends to leverage its proprietary bacterial strains, technologies and processes by outlicensing to industrial partners. DEINOVE has partnered with leading sugar, ethanol and starch company TEREOS in order to develop the DEINOL project, which aims at producing cellulosic ethanol in an existing plant.
The Paris-based company currently has 20 staff and operates several R&D partnerships with the CNRS (Montpellier and Marseilles) the University of Paris V, INSA Toulouse and the VTT in Finland. It was incorporated in late 2006 under the joint impetus of Philippe Pouletty MD (Managing Partner at the private equity firm Truffle Capital) and Miroslav Radman PhD (Professor of Cell Biology at Paris-Descartes University, a member of the French Academy of Science and winner of the 2003 INSERM Medical Research Prize). Professor Radman elucidated the genetic mechanism behind the extraordinary natural properties of the bacterium Deinococcus (biodiversity and robustness) on which DEINOVE’s innovative strategy is based. The company also operates a lab at Cap Alpha Technology Park in Montpellier, southern France.
DEINOVE SA – 4 rue Tesson, F-75010 Paris, France – Tel.: + 33 (0)1 42 03 27 37 – Fax: +33 (0)1 47 23 54 03 contact@deinove.com – www.deinove.com
About OSEO’s Strategic Industrial Innovation Programme
The Strategic Industrial Innovation Programme – or ISI, due to its French acronym – promotes the emergence of European champions. It supports innovative, ambitious, collaborative projects, which are industry-oriented and led by intermediate companies and SMEs, all advancing state-of-the-art technologies. When successful, these projects have a very promising outcome, as they aim at commercializing the innovations arising from technological breakthroughs, which would not be otherwise carried out without public funding. Funds are allocated in the form of grants and loans, ranging from 3 to 10 M€.
Contacts:
ALIZE RP DEINOVE Caroline Carmagnol Angelita de Francisco Public Relations Agency Business Development Tel.: +33 142 688643 / +33 664 189959 Tel : +33 142 03 27 32/ + 33 607 15 28 87 caroline@alizerp.com angelita@deinove.com
