Universidade Católica Portuguesa and Amyris sign a research contract with the Portuguese government

Silicon Valley, in the United States, was the location for the signing, in the presence of Prime Minister António Costa, of the contract for the Alchemy research project that results from a strategic partnership between the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, through ESB – the Higher School of Biotechnology, the company Amyris Bio Products Portugal, a subsidiary of Amyris, Inc., and the government of Portugal represented by AICEP – the Agency for Foreign Investment and Trade in Portugal.

The Alchemy project goal is to contribute towards optimising the efficiency of the biomolecule production process and design new applications for the sub-products/residues resulting from this process, thereby enabling the development of new molecules of great commercial interest, in particular for the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Simultaneously, the project seeks to foster technology transfers reflected in the growth of competitiveness of companies in the bio-economic sector.

This project involves around 100 researchers from both institutions, including around 60 new recruits, merging diverse competences, specifically in the fields of bio-engineering, microbiology and bio-analytics. The project, with its first phase holding a five-year duration, takes shape through a centre of excellence in biotechnology, placing Portugal on the front line in the bio-economy and circular economy sectors. This project will impact on, and highly important externalities, other companies and sectors of activity.