Amyris Announces Collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation for Biosynthetic Drug Discovery


Amyris’s µPharmTM Platform to be Used for Rapid Integrated Discovery and Production of Therapeutic Compounds

EMERYVILLE, Calif., June 06, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amyris, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMRS), the industrial bioscience company, is pleased to announce it has entered into a research agreement with a commercial license option with Janssen Biotech, Inc., part of Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies. Under the terms of the agreement, facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the collaboration will use Amyris’s µPharmTM platform technology to develop a customized library of natural and natural-like compounds to test against Janssen’s therapeutic target.

Nature has been a great source for therapeutics, ranging from antibiotics to statins that lower cholesterol levels; however, Nature’s potential is often under-utilized due to scarcity or unavailability. Amyris’s µPharm platform technology enables an integrated discovery and production process for therapeutic compounds. It not only provides access to scarce natural compounds, but also creates new diversity based on natural compound scaffolds.

“We’re pleased to add another strong partner to our collaboration portfolio and this agreement is consistent with our overall business model of upfront development investment by a partner and an opportunity for a long term revenue stream following successful commercialization,” said Cynthia Bryant, Amyris Senior Vice President Corporate Development & Collaborations. “This technology opens a new area of compounds that have never been accessible for new drug discovery.”

Over the course of the agreement, Amyris will utilize the µPharm platform technology to develop a library of natural and natural-like compounds and test the efficacy of those compounds in vivo for hits against Janssen’s identified target. This is a different approach than traditional high throughput screening, which typically applies thousands of chemical compounds in in vitro screens to find a drug candidate. Instead, the µPharm platform starts with the target, identifies candidate natural compound structures, and then creates diversity around those structures for in vivo testing. The result can lead to increased speed and enhanced efficiency in identifying hits while accelerating the time to market commercialization.

“We are helping to take some of the guess work out of new drug discovery, which helps our partners, like Janssen, to be able to more quickly understand target interaction and ultimately discover new therapies faster,” explained Joel Cherry, Amyris’s President, Research and Development.

“Janssen has a successful history of identifying and tapping into new innovation through collaborations. They are an ideal partner for Amyris to demonstrate the benefits of our µPharm platform technology while improving the health of everyone in the world,” stated Bryant.

About Amyris

Amyris is the integrated renewable products company that is enabling the world’s leading brands to achieve sustainable growth. Amyris applies its innovative bioscience solutions to convert plant sugars into hydrocarbon molecules, specialty ingredients and consumer products. The company is delivering its No Compromise® products in focused markets, including specialty and performance chemicals, fragrance ingredients, and cosmetic emollients. More information about the company is available at www.amyris.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements, and any statements other than statements of historical facts could be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding future events (such as Amyris µPharm platform technology enabling an integrated discovery and production process for therapeutic compounds, and the capabilities and benefits of such technology for development and manufacturing scale-up), that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and actual results and future events may differ materially due to risks and uncertainties, including  the company's liquidity and ability to fund operating and capital expenses, Amyris's reliance on third parties to achieve its goals, timing and execution risks associated with development and manufacturing, potential delays or failures in development, production and commercialization of products, and other risks detailed in the “Risk Factors” section of Amyris’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed on May 10, 2016. Amyris disclaims any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Amyris, the Amyris logo and µPharm are registered trademarks of Amyris, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.


            

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