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Remember: Zymergen has the bulk of patents here, a ridiculous amount of know-how, and actual factory-level scaling beyond 1.5 liter bioreactors -- but they're n

by w10-1 5y ago

Remember: Zymergen has the bulk of patents here, a ridiculous amount of know-how, and actual factory-level scaling beyond 1.5 liter bioreactors -- but they're now worth less than pennies on the dollar of their initial investment. Business issues aside, micro-organisms always produce a lot more stuff than what you want, and they behave differently depending on the micro-environment, and of course they mutate... It's kind of hard to go up against DARPA projects and national labs that have been doing this for decades.

DavidPBL 5y ago
Absolutely it is hard! No denying that. This is one of the challenges we face against companies that are spinning out research that has been publicly funded for many years or on a more personal note, going up against people who came from more prestigious institutions. But we think we have identified a niche that is worth pursuing. I think Zymergen is an interesting case study and serves as an example to companies developing 'new products'. Like most things there is no perfect solution. New products open new markets, new opportunities, and may seem less risky at the beginning, but what happened to Zymergen is an example of what can happen when rolling out new products (in this space of course). Drop in replacements for example don't face those same risks, but they have other challenges of course.