This news https://lnkd.in/gMstziHM is exciting; U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s $214M loan to #Solugen for its Bioforge 2 plant is a significant step taken by U.S. government to support #biomanufacturing.
Solugen's main platform derives from glucose oxidase oxidation (using dioxygen) of glucose to (gluconolactone, which "autohydrates" to) gluconic acid. Gluconic acid can then be oxidized to glucaric acid chemically (an enzymatic alternative, using a "glucose 6-oxidase" suited at industrial scale, has yet to be discovered or engineered).
Hydrogen peroxide and gluconic acid, used in a range of applications, are relatively low-margin. With 2 functional sites, glucaric acid may serve as a monomer (or bridging agent) for polymers, rendering its industrial values potentially far exceeding that of gluconic acid.
Hydrogen peroxide, gluconic acid, glucaric acid, even glucose oxidase (and their homologs) are well known and applied in various industries. Solugen's innovations bring them together into a greener, bio-manufacturing process that is now being scaled at industrial stage.
Glucose can come from commodity crops like corn that are in high demands for food and feed. Significant energy and resources are used (in cultivating crops) to assemble the 6-carbon-framework in glucose. In living cells, besides the most reactive C-1 (for gluconic acid) and the less reactive C-6 (for glucuronic or glucaric acid), other 4 carbons and their chemical energy can also serve as precursors for other functional molecules or power biochemical processes.
Hopefully, Solugen, and the glucose-based biomanufacturing in general, can further advance the glucose's (non-food, feed) utilization beyond C-1 and C-2, to achieve better economy and valorization (for farmers as well).
Scaling up to industrial stage has been "existentially" challenging to almost all #precisionfermentation startups. This DOE loan and the Solugen-DOE collaboration model can be "existentially" beneficial to biomanufacturing.
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📰 Breaking News! Solugen has secured conditional commitment for a $213.6M loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office.
This financing will support the construction of Bioforge Marshall, our new 500,000 square-foot biomanufacturing facility in Southwest Minnesota.
The announcement marks a pivotal milestone in our scale-up journey and a landmark move for American industry. Solugen has now unlocked a critical step in executing our vision to deploy a domestic manufacturing network that brings sustainable solutions to market.
We’re thrilled to join an elite group of impactful companies catalyzed by this DOE loan program. Of the companies that have reached this prestigious milestone, only 14 have been startups. Among these, Solugen is the first to successfully scale sustainable chemical manufacturing with our pioneering chemienzymatic technology.
As we enter this next phase of growth, we look forward to continuing this important work alongside our customers, strategic partners, and investors.
Read Solugen's announcement here: https://lnkd.in/gjQEAXdm
Read DOE's announcement here: https://lnkd.in/gyDkmfKn
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