OPX Bio partners with Evonik Industries

BOULDER – OPX Biotechnologies Inc. said Tuesday it will jointly develop bio-based chemicals with Evonik Industries AG in Germany.

Financial terms of deal were not disclosed, said Andy Ybarra, an OPX Biotechnologies spokesman. OPX’s trademarked technology will be used to develop certain bio-processes, according to a company press release.

Boulder-based OPX Biotechnologies makes an environmentally friendly acrylic acid that can be used to make things like diapers, detergents, paints and adhesives in an industry worth an estimated $10 billion annually. Evonik Industries in Essen, Germany, had sales of about $17.4 billion in fiscal 2012.

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“There’s a growing market demand for more sustainable products and processes, and OPX Bio is an excellent partner to help us meet that demand because their technology can create high-value, bio-based chemicals quickly and cost-effectively,” Thomas Haas, vice president of the Science-to-Business Center Biotechnology of Creavis, the research and development unit of Evonik, said in the press release.

The bio-processes being developed will have the potential to create “economic and sustainable versions” of products Americans use every day, said Charles Eggert, OPX Bio’ president and chief executive. OPX Bio also will be able to market bio-based products resulting from the Evonik collaboration, according to the release.

OPX Bio has attracted at least $36.5 million in venture capital financing. University of Colorado-Boulder professor and researcher Ryan Gill is a co-founder of the company, which was started in 2007. OPX Bio employs 65 people in Boulder.