ADM and Solugen announce biomanufacturing facility in U.S Midwest

Solugen and ADM announced a strategic partnership to scale a range of innovative, plant-based specialty chemicals and bio-based building block molecules in a new manufacturing facility in Marshall, Minnesota. Under the terms of the agreement, Solugen will build a new 500,000-square-foot biomanufacturing facility adjacent to ADM’s existing corn complex in Marshall. The facility will utilize ADM-provided dextrose to scale its current line of lower-carbon organic acids and develop new, innovative molecules to replace existing fossil fuel-based materials. The companies also plan to collaborate on commercialization opportunities of these biomaterials for a range of applications including energy, water treatment, agriculture, construction materials, cleaning, personal care, and more. “The strategic partnership with ADM will allow Solugen to bring our chemienzymatic process to a commercial scale and meet existing customer demand for our high-performance, cost-competitive, sustainable products,” said Gaurab Chakrabarti, Co-Founder and CEO of Solugen. “As one of the few scaled-up and de-risked biomanufacturing assets in the country, Solugen’s Bioforge platform is helping bolster domestic capabilities and supply chains that are critical in ensuring the U.S. reaches its ambitious climate targets.” Leveraging a first-of-its-kind combination of computationally engineered enzymes and metal catalysts, Solugen’s Bioforge converts plant-derived substances into essential materials that have traditionally been made from fossil fuels. The high efficiency and scalability of Solugen’s process can offer a significant reduction in carbon footprint compared with conventional ingredients.