Amyris Delivering Sustainable Alternative To Shark Squalene Adjuvant - Enabling Vaccines For All With No Sharks Killed

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Oct 01, 2020, 08:30 ET

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Oct. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amyris, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMRS), a leading synthetic biotechnology company in Clean Health and Beauty markets through its consumer brands, and a top supplier of sustainable and natural ingredients, today announced that it is currently delivering samples to pharmaceutical companies of a sustainable and scalable alternative to shark-based vaccine adjuvants currently used in a number of vaccines, including those directed at influenza and COVID-19. Amyris expects commercialization and production of its alternative squalene for adjuvants in the fourth quarter.

Squalene is a natural oil made in the liver of sharks and used as an ingredient within adjuvants in vaccines to improve efficacy of a vaccine.
Shark-based squalene is used in influenza vaccines and in various COVID-19 vaccines.
Amyris has developed a process to naturally produce sugarcane-derived squalene as an effective alternative to shark-derived squalene.

Adjuvants are added to vaccines to boost immune system response and those including squalene are typically sourced from deep-sea shark livers, a non-sustainable and non-scalable resource.

"Our patented technology and manufacturing processes have already produced a number of applications to, among other things, create a scalable treatment for malaria, and a variety of sustainably-sourced clean products and ingredients that are better for people and our planet," said John Melo, President and CEO. "We believe our capabilities are critical toward supporting a healthier planet while protecting its resources, including the lives of sharks essential to the marine ecosystem. We are committed to delivering the world's needs for a high performance, low cost sustainable squalene without killing a single shark. We believe this is essential in responding to pandemics and delivering vaccines for all people in need on our planet."

About Amyris
Amyris (Nasdaq: AMRS) is a science and technology leader in the research, development and production of sustainable ingredients for the Clean Health & Beauty and Flavors & Fragrances markets. Amyris uses an impressive array of exclusive technologies, including state-of-the-art machine learning, robotics and artificial intelligence. Our ingredients are included in over 3,000 products from the world's top brands, reaching more than 200 million consumers. Amyris is proud to own three consumer brands - all built around its No Compromise® promise of clean ingredients: Biossance™ clean beauty skincare, Pipette™ clean baby skincare and Purecane™, a zero-calorie sweetener naturally derived from sugarcane. For more information, please visit www.amyris.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, and any statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding scalability, quantity and timing of commercial production of squalene and relative efficacy of squalene derived from different sources. These statements are based on management's current expectations, and actual results and future events may differ materially due to risks and uncertainties, including risks related to Amyris' liquidity and ability to fund operating and capital expenses, risks related to potential delays or failures in development, production and commercialization of products, risks related to Amyris' reliance on third parties, and other risks detailed from time to time in filings Amyris makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Amyris disclaims any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Amyris, the Amyris logo, No Compromise, Biossance, Pipette, and Purecane are trademarks or registered trademarks of Amyris, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

SOURCE Amyris, Inc.