Metabolix Announces Patents For The Production Of Chemicals And Plastics In Plants
Cambridge, MA, September 15, 1997 - Metabolix Inc. ("MBX") of Cambridge, Massachusetts, today announced the award of US Patent Nos. 5,661,026 and 5,663,063 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These patents are the seventh and eighth in a series, licensed exclusively to Metabolix, which broadly claim the use of genes required to make polyesters, known as PHAs, in plant crops. As well as being useful plastics, the PHAs provide a route to industrially important chemicals. The announcement comes during a time when major chemical companies are moving to develop sustainable technologies for production of chemicals and polymers from renewable resources. In addition to the new patents, Metabolix also announced the publication of an international patent application WO 97/15681 describing methods for recovering the PHA polyesters from plants
