Amyris Names Charles Kraft as Vice President of Global Manufacturing & Process Development

Fermentation Industry Veteran to Lead Manufacturing as Amyris's Paraiso Plant Commissioning Enters Final Stages


EMERYVILLE, Calif., Oct. 9, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amyris, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMRS), a leading renewable chemicals and fuels company, today announced that Charles Kraft, a specialty fermentation industry veteran, has been appointed Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Process Development.

"Chuck's experience and leadership will complement Amyris's manufacturing and process development team. We've successfully engineered yeast strains to make farnesene, artemisinic acid, and a fragrance ingredient. With our first purpose-built farnesene plant in the final stages of commissioning in Brazil, Chuck will help take our industrial manufacturing capability to its next phase — continuous operational improvements and process optimization as we continue on track to scale up our production and to drive down our production cost," said John Melo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Amyris.

Prior to joining Amyris, Kraft was Vice President of Operations, and earlier Vice President of Engineering, at DuPont Tate and Lyle BioProducts, a joint venture producing 1, 3-propanediol (Bio-PDO™) via fermentation of plant-based sugars. Previously, for nearly two decades, he held a number of operational positions at Tate & Lyle's citric acid production facility in the United States.

"Amyris is making history with its technology platform and the impending start-up of its facility at Paraíso. Based on my review of Amyris's operations in California, Illinois, and Brazil over the last several weeks, Amyris is well on track to become a predictable, reliable manufacturer of renewable chemicals and fuels to meet growing customer demand. I am excited to leverage my experience in industrial fermentation with the manufacturing base and talented team that is already in place," said Kraft.

About Amyris, Inc.

Amyris is an integrated renewable products company focused on providing sustainable alternatives to a broad range of petroleum-sourced products. Amyris uses its industrial synthetic biology platform to convert plant sugars into a variety of hydrocarbon molecules—flexible building blocks that can be used in a wide range of products. Amyris's initial portfolio of commercial products is based on Biofene®, Amyris's brand of renewable farnesene, a long-chain hydrocarbon. Amyris is commercializing these products both as No Compromise® renewable ingredients in cosmetics, flavors and fragrances, polymers, lubricants and consumer products, and also as No Compromise renewable diesel and jet fuel. Amyris Brasil Ltda., a subsidiary of Amyris, oversees the establishment and expansion of Amyris's production in Brazil. More information about Amyris is available at www.amyris.com.

The Amyris, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=12462

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements, and any statements other than statements of historical facts could be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding future events (such as the anticipated commissioning and start-up of Amyris's manufacturing facility at Paraíso Bioenergia, expansion and reliability of Amyris manufacturing, Amyris's leadership with respect to industrial synthetic biology, and customer demand for Amyris renewable products) that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on management's current expectations and actual results and future events may differ materially due to risks and uncertainties, including those associated with any delays or failures in development, production or commercialization of products, liquidity and ability to fund capital expenditures, Amyris's reliance on third parties to achieve its goals, and other risks detailed in the "Risk Factors" section of Amyris's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed on August 8, 2012. 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, Biofene and No Compromise are trademarks or registered trademarks of Amyris, Inc. This press release also contains trademarks of other businesses that are the property of their respective owners.



            

Contact Data