Genomatica Repeats First Place Finish in Biofuels Digest 30 Hottest in Renewable Chemicals

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 30, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genomatica was voted No. 1 in the Biofuels Digest's 30 Hottest Companies in Renewable Chemicals and Biobased Materials for the second year running. The list is voted upon by Biofuels Digest subscribers, international selectors invited by the publication and votes via Twitter.

"The interest in renewable chemicals continues to grow rapidly, which resulted in a slew of companies contending for first place in the second annual '30 hottest' companies," said Biofuels Digest founder and editor Jim Lane. "This vote is by the industry's most knowledgeable insiders and placing first for two consecutive years showcases that Genomatica is held in very high esteem by the leaders of the chemical industry."

Genomatica was recognized for its innovation and achievement in renewable chemicals and materials development. The company has developed processes to produce intermediate and basic chemicals from renewable feedstocks. These processes produce the exact same chemicals to 'green' the manufacturing value chains for thousands of everyday products with better economics and a smaller environmental footprint. Genomatica's first target chemical, butanediol (BDO) is used in the production of spandex, athletic apparel and other products.

The company was also recently named a winner of the Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation award. These two awards add to Genomatica's increasing level of industry recognition, which includes the EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, and being named a Best Place to Work by The Scientist.

"We are honored to be recognized by our peers for a second consecutive year – especially considering the large number of innovative public companies and cutting-edge startups that voters had to choose from," said Christophe Schilling, Ph.D., CEO of Genomatica. "This award is a testament to the great work done by the entire Genomatica team. This is a time of great change within the chemical industry. We look forward to having our bio-based processes provide more opportunities for our partners to deliver more sustainable products to people everywhere."

About Genomatica

Genomatica is a technology leader for the chemical industry. It delivers new manufacturing processes that enable its partners to produce intermediate and basic chemicals from renewable feedstocks. These chemicals serve as the basis for making substantially all of the products that make modern life possible. Genomatica's processes are designed to achieve better economics with enhanced sustainability and a smaller environmental footprint than petroleum-based manufacturing processes. Genomatica is developing a pipeline of manufacturing processes for the production of these chemicals, and expects the first commercial-scale BDO plant that uses its processes to begin production in 2013.

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