CORRECTED - Raizen to seek further partnerships with biotechnology companies - report

Sep 30, 2011 - Raizen, the ethanol joint venture of Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Cosan (SAO:CSAN3) and Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell (AMS:RDSA, LON:RDSA), will seek further partnerships with other biotechnology companies along the lines of the agreement reached with US biotech firm Codexis Inc (NASDAQ:CDXS).

The company's strategy targets the research and development (R&D) of new value-added products via partnerships and not on its own, Rodrigo Pacheco, Raizen's new projects' director said, as quoted yesterday by Brazilian news agency Agencia Estado.

On Tuesday, Raizen and Codexis announced the signing of an agreement for the joint development of an improved first generation ethanol process with enhanced performance economics.

According to Pacheco, there will be no investments at this phase of the agreement, since the research will be executed with the already existing infrastructure.

The initial results, which are expected within a period of three to six months, will serve as a basis for the assessment of the undertaking and the way the partnership will be modelled, the executive told Agencia Estado.

What has been defined so far is that Codexis will have the marketing rights of the products developed, while Raizen will be able to purchase the products at privileged conditions, Pacheco also revealed.

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