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BASF and Diversa Form Broad Alliance to Develop Innovative New Products

20 Feb 2006 - Diversa Corporation and BASF announced that they have entered into a broad alliance that will leverage Diversa's leadership position in novel enzyme development and BASF's expertise in biotechnology, process development, product applications, and global marketing and distribution. Under the agreement, Diversa will be responsible for discovery and optimization of new enzymes, and BASF will be responsible for product and process development and all commercialization matters.
 
The new agreement is a significant expansion of the relationship between Diversa and BASF that began in 2001 with a collaborative agreement to develop biocatalysts. In 2003, under the original agreement, BASF licensed a proprietary enzyme from Diversa for the biocatalytic synthesis of a chiral pharmaceutical intermediate. The two companies will be focusing on improving industrial processes and product performance by combining BASF's application know how, chemical and biotechnology expertise and market knowledge with Diversa's enzyme discovery and optimization technologies.