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Gevo Granted Critical Patent Enabling Commercially Viable Yields of Isobutanol Production from Yeast
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Englewood, CO -- Gevo, Inc., a leading renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 8,153,415 (‘415 Patent) entitled “Reduced By-Product Accumulation for Improved Production of Isobutanol.”
The ‘415 Patent covers technology which eliminates two pathways that compete for isobutanol pathway intermediates in yeast. The claimed modifications helped Gevo create a more efficient isobutanol-producing yeast.
“Our patented yeast is encouraged to produce greater yields of isobutanol,” said Brett Lund, EVP & General Counsel of Gevo. “Our scientists proved that by successfully eliminating unwanted, competing enzymatic pathways, we could redesign an isobutanol-producing yeast to be more efficient.”
Gevo also announced it has filed a lawsuit against Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels, LLC (Butamax) and its affiliate E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Butamax has publicly disclosed its use of Gevo’s claimed technology in several later-filed patent applications, including WO/2011/159853, paragraph 0265, and WO/2011/159998, paragraph 0226.
“We understand that Butamax has attempted to reach commercial-scale production of isobutanol for several years,” said Lund. “To produce commercially relevant levels of isobutanol however, one must use the technology covered by our ‘415 Patent. As this patent illustrates, our scientists realized the importance of eliminating these pathways before our competitors. This pioneering discovery has been instrumental in helping us start the world’s first commercial-scale, renewable isobutanol operation by this summer.”
About Gevo
Gevo is converting existing ethanol plants into biorefineries to make renewable building block products for the chemical and fuel industries. The Company plans to convert renewable raw materials into isobutanol and renewable hydrocarbons that can be directly integrated on a “drop in” basis into existing chemical and fuel products to deliver environmental and economic benefits. Gevo is committed to a sustainable biobased economy that meets society’s needs for plentiful food and clean air and water. For more information, visit www.gevo.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements that are not purely statements of historical fact, and can sometimes be identified by our use of terms such as “intend,” “expect,” “plan,” “estimate,” “future,” “strive” and similar words. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Gevo and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Gevo in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Gevo for the year ended December 31, 2011, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by Gevo.
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