BASF will use Dyadic’s C1 platform technology to develop, produce, distribute and sell industrial enzymes for animal and human nutrition among other markets, based on R&D it will carry out at Dyadic’s research lab in The Netherlands, the companies said today.

Under their nonexclusive worldwide research and license agreement, BASF agreed in return to pay Dyadic a $6 million up-front “license fee,” as well as additional undisclosed payments tied to achievement of research and commercial milestones, plus royalties upon commercialization.

“Dyadic’s C1 technology will strengthen BASF’s position in the industrial enzyme industry,” Carsten Sieden, Ph.D., senior vp, fine chemicals and biocatalysis research for BASF, said in a statement. “We expect this license agreement with Dyadic to result in promising long-term opportunities.”

The C1 platform is based on Dyadic’s C1 fungus, a patented variation of the Myceliopthora thermophila fungus that enables development and large-scale manufacture of low-cost proteins and enzymes. C1 platform technology can also be used to screen for the discovery of novel genes and proteins.

Developed in the early 1990’s through a UV-induced mutation, the C1 fungus is the basis of a technology platform that, according to Dyadic, has undergone 17 years of R&D, as well as 15 years of product sales and partnerships with key players, the latest of which is BASF.

Long a leader in chemicals for uses ranging from plastics to protection of crops, as well as oil and gas, BASF is looking to what humans and animals eat for future growth: Just yesterday, BASF announced the official launch of its global brand Newtrition™, dedicated to the human nutrition market, and a broader portfolio of omega-3 fatty acids for the human nutrition and pharmaceutical industries, all during the trade shows Vitafoods Europe 2013 in Geneva and IFIA Japan 2013 in Tokyo.

Since January, BASF began directly selling the animal feed additive Novasil™ Plus, a calcium montmorillonite-rich clay that specifically binds aflatoxins during the digestive process. The additive is designed to reduce the risk of animal exposure to aflatoxins, which can cause liver and kidney damage in livestock and impair the animals’ immune systems.

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