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Metabolix and ADM Appoint Robert E. Engle as General Manager for Telles Joint Venture

Jan 26, 2009

LOWELL, Mass., Jan 26, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX) and Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) today announced that they have appointed Robert E. Engle as the General Manager for Telles, their joint venture that produces Mirel(TM) bioplastics. Mr. Engle brings extensive operational and international joint-venture management experience to Telles and will lead all aspects of the JV.

Richard P. Eno, president and CEO, Metabolix, said, "Bob brings a wealth of capabilities to our Telles JV. His management experience, strategic planning and business development skills, combined with his deep knowledge of the high-performance plastics industry will prove invaluable to both the commercial launch of Mirel and our global growth of the brand."

Mr. Engle joins Telles after ten years with Ticona, the engineering polymers business of Celanese Corporation, where he served as Ticona VP of Affiliate Management, responsible for oversight of Ticona's global JV affiliate relationships in the high performance plastics industry. He has operational leadership experience in several Ticona business lines. In addition, he has served on the Boards of Directors of several international JVs, including Polyplastics, Korea Engineering Plastics and Fortron Industries.

John Rice, executive vice president, Commercial and Production, ADM, said, "Bob is a valuable addition to our JV team. His demonstrated ability to manage the structure and resources of joint venture relationships will prove very important to our success as we complete construction of our initial facility in Clinton, Iowa, and ramp toward commercialization of the complete family of Mirel bioplastics. His international experience in both Asia and Europe will be critical as we implement our strategy in these regions."

Prior to his experience at Ticona, Mr. Engle worked in corporate planning at Hoechst A.G. and in a chemicals and plastics consulting role at Arthur D. Little. Mr. Engle received a master's degree in Arabic focused on international business administration from Georgetown University and holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado.

About Metabolix

Founded in 1992, Metabolix, Inc. is an innovation driven bioscience company focused on providing sustainable solutions for the world's needs for plastics, chemicals and energy. The Company is taking a systems approach, from gene to end product, integrating sophisticated biotechnology with advanced industrial practice. Metabolix is now developing and commercializing Mirel(TM), a family of bioplastics which are sustainable and biodegradable alternatives to petroleum-based plastics. Mirel is suitable for injection molding, extrusion coating, cast film and sheet, blown film and thermoforming. Metabolix is also developing a proprietary platform technology for co-producing plastics, chemicals and energy, from crops such as switchgrass, oilseeds and sugarcane.

For more information, please visit www.metabolix.com. (MBLX-G)

About ADM

Every day, the 27,000 people of Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) turn crops into renewable products that meet the demands of a growing world. At more than 230 processing plants, we convert corn, oilseeds, wheat and cocoa into products for food, animal feed, chemical and energy uses. We operate the world's premier crop origination and transportation network, connecting crops and markets in more than 60 countries. Our global headquarters is in Decatur, Illinois, and our net sales for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008, were $70 billion. For more information about our Company and our products, visit www.adm.com.

About Telles

Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) are commercializing Mirel through a joint venture called Telles. The first commercial-scale Mirel production plant is being constructed adjacent to ADM's wet corn mill in Clinton, Iowa. The plant is designed to produce up to 110 million pounds of Mirel annually. Mirel will reduce reliance on petroleum and decrease environmental impacts relative to conventional petroleum-based plastics.

For more information, please visit www.mirelplastics.com.

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 commercial viability of Mirel, and expectations regarding Mirel commercial production and the commercially produced Mirel material, 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 and are detailed in Metabolix' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. 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.

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Matt Lindberg, 203-682-8214
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Brian Ruby, 203-682-8268
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Investors:
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