Royal DSM has announced plans to invest in industrial bio-science company Amyris, while entering into a development cooperation to develop new products with a focus on the growing consumer shift to ‘natural-like products derived from sustainable sources.’

The initial investment will be US$25 million, with a further US$25 million potential investment should certain conditions be met, expected to close within 90 days of the first transaction. Royal DSM will gain one seat on the Amyris board after each investment.

As part of the deal, the two companies will focus on a number of short- to medium-term product development and production opportunities.

John Melo, Amyris President & CEO, said, “The Amyris technology platform and potential synergy can lead to significant cost improvements for DSM while accelerating Amyris’s market access. We expect this will lead to incremental revenue in 2017, growing annually based on the number of products we develop in our partnership and our pace of delivery.”

Chris Goppelsroeder, President & CEO of DSM Nutritional Products, added, “Working closely together with Amyris and leveraging DSM’s route-to-market, will accelerate our innovation towards cost-effective, fermentation-based processes for both existing and new products.”