Genomatica, Italian Firms Create Venture

Genomatica, a San Diego-based biotech firm, has formed a joint venture with the Italian companies Novamont and Versalis to develop an end-to-end process for producing butadiene, a synthetic rubber raw material, from biomass. Versalis, the chemical unit of Italian oil company Eni, will own a majority of the venture. Geno­matica will provide the venture with a biotech process for making butadiene, Nova­mont brings know-how in biorefineries and feedstocks, and Versalis brings expertise in catalysis and other areas. Last year, Genomatica and Novamont announced a venture to build a 40 million-lb-per-year 1,4-butanediol plant in Italy.