Lallemand Ethanol Technology has announced an exclusive partnership with Xylogenics, a bioengineering company, to develop and commercialize genetically enhanced yeasts for first generation ethanol production. Lallemand is one of the leading yeast providers for the ethanol industry.

“Xylogenics is thrilled to be partnering with Lallemand, a global leader in fermentation technology and we are looking forward to bringing our exciting technology to the market,” said Mike Neibler, Xylogenics CEO. “We are confident that our combined strengths will allow us to move quickly to commercialization and make a positive impact on the fuel ethanol industry economics.”

The goal of the program is to use Xylogenics expertise in yeast genomics in cooperation with Lallemand, to engineer a new class of industrial ethanol yeast strains. These enhanced strains will increase fermentation yield, reduce fermentation costs and potentially increase ethanol plant fermentation capacity compared with current commercial strains. This program demonstrates that there is still room to develop technology to improve ethanol production while at the same time decreasing per gallon costs.

Lallemand will focus on process development, manufacturing and commercialization of the new yeast and Xylogenics will receive patent license fees and royalty payments.

Bill Nankervis, President of Lallemand Specialties, Inc. and General Manager of Lallemand Ethanol Technology said of the partnership, “We have been working with Xylogenics for some time and this agreement signals that we are confident that Xylogenics technology offers significant benefits for the fuel ethanol industry. Xylogenics and Lallemand are committed to delivering a yeast that will set a new fermentation performance standard and deliver improved profitability to our customers.”