Investor Relations

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec 11, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Metabolix Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX), a company developing and commercializing environmentally sustainable and totally biodegradable Natural Plastic, today announced that permits have been received for a commercial manufacturing facility designed to produce 110 million pounds of biodegradable Natural Plastic annually and will now commence construction. The facility is being constructed as part of a joint venture agreement with Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM), a world leader in agricultural processing and fermentation.

"Initiating construction of this first commercial manufacturing facility for Natural Plastic in Clinton, Iowa marks a major milestone for Metabolix and our strategic alliance with ADM," said Jim Barber, President and CEO of Metabolix. "We believe that Natural Plastic is a breakthrough technology that has the potential to provide environmentally-conscious companies and consumers with a renewable and sustainable alternative to petrochemical-based plastics, and to positively impact climate change, pollution and energy security."

Metabolix Natural Plastics can be used as an alternative to petrochemical plastics in a wide variety of applications, including coated paper, film or bags, and thermoformed and molded goods. They are produced using a patented, biological fermentation process that converts agricultural raw materials such as corn sugar into a versatile range of plastics with excellent durability in use but that also biodegrade benignly in a wide range of environments, including marine and wetlands.

The Natural Plastic commercial manufacturing facility will be located adjacent to ADM's corn wet mill in Clinton, Iowa. The plant will utilize starch from the mill's existing corn grind capacity as raw material for Natural Plastic production, and is designed to initially produce 110 million pounds annually. ADM and Metabolix are working together in a strategic alliance to commercialize Metabolix's patented and proprietary Natural Plastic technology. Permits enabling the start of construction were issued on November 30, 2006 by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Commercial production of Natural Plastic is expected to begin in 2008. Metabolix and ADM are currently operating a pilot manufacturing facility to produce pre-commercial quantities of material and developing applications with selected customers.

About Metabolix

Founded in 1992, Metabolix, Inc. is developing and commercializing environmentally sustainable and totally biodegradable Natural Plastic as a clean alternative to petroleum-based plastics. The Company is taking a systems approach, from gene to end product, to integrate sophisticated biotechnology with current industrial practice to produce plastics, fuels and chemicals from renewable resources. In addition to its microbial fermentation platform for production of Natural Plastic, Metabolix is also developing a proprietary platform technology for co-producing, in non-food plant crops such as switchgrass, Natural Plastic and biomass for biofuels such as ethanol and for chemical products. For more information, please visit www.metabolix.com. (MBLX-G)

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release which are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding commencement and completion of construction on the commercial manufacturing facility, actual manufacturing capacity of the commercial manufacturing facility, manufacturing plans and performance including the timing of commencement of commercial production of Natural Plastic, commercial viability of Natural Plastic, current or future financial performance and position, management's strategy, plans and objectives for future operations, product development, present and future research and development, regulatory approval and intellectual property, constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, without limitation, risks associated with: our dependence on our collaborative partner for construction of the commercial manufacturing facility, ADM's ability to complete construction of the commercial manufacturing facility on time and on budget, the ability of Metabolix and ADM to successfully manufacture Natural Plastic at commercial scale and in a timely and economic manner, the success of collaborative arrangement with ADM, the market acceptance of our products, our ability to compete with petrochemical-based plastics, fuels and chemicals, our ability to generate future revenues, our expectation of incurring continued losses, the success of our research and development programs, our ability to develop and successfully commercialize Natural Plastic, our ability to obtain required regulatory approvals, our ability to obtain, maintain and protect intellectual property rights for our products, our limited sales and manufacturing capabilities, our ability to hire and retain skilled personnel, and other risks detailed in Metabolix' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Registration Statement on Form S-1 which was declared effective on November 9, 2006. Metabolix assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein.

SOURCE: Metabolix Inc.

Media:
ICR
Jackie Kolek, 203-682-8200
Jackie.kolek@icrinc.com
or
Investor Relations:
ICR
Kathleen Heaney, 203-803-3585
ir@metabolix.com

Copyright Business Wire 2006

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