ADM is taking on the contract services of a fermentation improvement technology company to work on 'opportunities and efficiencies' in the food ingredients arena.
Bio-Technical Resources (BTR), a small biotechnology subsidiary of US company Arkion Life Sciences, will look at strain improvement, metabolic engineering, fermentation process development and recovery for new and existing processes at the US agri-processor ADM, the two companies said in a recent statement.
"This partnership allows us to capitalise on our raw material and technical strengths in fermentation," said Steve Furcich, president of the health and nutrition unit of ADM.
Details regarding the series of research agreements were not disclosed but according to the companies ADM will be responsible for scale-up and commercialisation.
Manitowoc-based BTR, set up in 1967, is now under the wings of the young Arkion Life Sciences company. The latter was formed in July 2001 to acquire - through a management buy-out - the DCV Life Sciences Group of DCV, itself formed in 1987 as a group of joint ventures between DuPont and ConAgra.
In 1997, the DCV management group and Winward Capital bought the joint venture from DuPont and ConAgra, since August 1997 DCV has not been affiliated with either of the companies. Later, in November 2001, Minnesota Corn Processors acquired a 19.99 per cent stake in Arkion Life Sciences.
BTR has been quite active in the nutraceutical arena, announcing earlier this year that in the first quarter it had begun commercialising its technology to produce glucosamine, a health supplement believed to benefit joint health and currently one of the fastest growing supplements in the US.