DIC and Debut to develop polyphenols

The Japanese pigment maker DIC has signed a joint development deal with the US synthetic biology firm Debut Biotech. The companies will work together on biotech routes to polyphenols, a broad class of organic molecules normally extracted from plants. The partners are setting a fast pace, with the construction of a biomanufacturing facility in the US set for this year and the rollout of the first products—color and skin-health active ingredients for the cosmetics market—planned for 2024. Debut’s production technology combines fermentation with cell-free enzymatic conversions, an approach that the start-up claims beats the efficiency of pure fermentation by three orders of magnitude.