California's Amyris, Inc. has signed a collaboration agreement with Kuraray Co., Ltd. to develop innovative polymers from Biofene, a renewable hydrocarbon building block made using Amyris's technology.

Under the agreement, Kuraray will use Biofene to replace petroleum-derived feedstock such as butadiene and isoprene in the production of specified classes of high-performing polymers. Upon successful completion of the technical development program for the first polymer, Amyris and Kuraray will enter into a supply agreement for Kuraray's exclusive use of Biofene in the manufacturing and commercialization of these polymer products.

"We are very excited to partner with Amyris, a leading renewable products company, to develop innovative polymer products with Biofene," said Yasuhiro Yamamoto, director and senior executive officer of Kuraray. "We are confident the new Biofene polymer products will become important additions to our product portfolio and be an integral part of our growth strategy."

"We are committed to bringing innovative, high-performing and sustainable products to the polymers market," said John Melo, CEO of Amyris. "Partnering with an industry leader like Kuraray allows us to expand the use of Biofene to produce high-performance polymers as well as strengthen our timely and successful route to market."

With proprietary technology in polymer chemistry and synthetic chemistry, Kuraray develops chemicals and resins, fibres and textiles, high-performance materials, medical products and others. It has subsidiaries in 16 countries and regions outside Japan.