New Degussa Project House ProFerm
Microorganisms are opening new opportunities in chemicals production
10-Mar-2004
Degussa AG of Dusseldorf, Germany, aims to make stronger use of the potential of biotechnological production processes. As announced at its financial press conference today, the company has started the new ProFerm Project House, and will be investing approx. EUR 20 million into it over the next three years.
As Prof. Utz-Hellmuth Felcht, Degussa Management Board Chairman, stated, "We aim to become even stronger in biotechnology in future as this is a field that provides us access to innovative products and new business, thus enabling us to expand our leading market position still further". An example in this respect consists of natural, skin-identical lipids for cosmetics, a growth market offering attractive margins. Degussa is a leading manufacturer and supplier of raw materials, additives and active ingredients for the cosmetics industry.
An important area of biotechnology consists of fermentation, a process in which desired substances are created as the metabolic products of microorganisms. The principle has been in use for centuries.
Dr. Alfred Oberholz, Management Board Member with responsibility for Research and Development, states, "Modern systems biology involves various sub-disciplines such as genomics and proteomics, which are concerned with the analysis of the entirety of the genes and proteins to be found in an organism. This integral understanding of microorganisms is now making it possible to enhance their productivity faster and in a more targeted manner."
This is where the new project house, which is headquartered in Hanau/Wolfgang, Germany, enters the scene. Using cutting-edge technology, 30 employees led by Dr. Stefan Buchholz will be developing novel microorganisms and fermentation processes. Degussa already uses fermentation in the manufacture of a large number of products, such as amino acids, thickeners and ingredients for cosmetics.
The ProFerm project house will expand this solid knowledge base and link the know-how of business and service units, thus creating a platform for the whole Group. This makes it a perfect example of how Degussa fosters organic growth by linking knowledge. ProFerm will also be benefiting from a strong network involving external partners such as universities and biotechnology companies.
Degussa uses the project house concept to develop promising technologies and take them to application stage within a fixed period of three years. Two further project houses are currently conducting research in the fields of catalysis and functional polymers. Each time a project house completes its allocated task, a new one is simultaneously started up in a three-year rhythm.
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