Milestones 2004

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INDUSTRIAL & ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

First, biotechnology transformed health care, generating 187 new therapies that have helped more than 325 million patients in 21 years. Next came agricultural biotechnology, lifting yields and cutting pesticide use on such staples as corn, soybeans and cotton. Now biotechnology's third wave — industrial and environmental biotechnology — is rolling in.

I&E biotechnology encompasses a broad range of applications for manufacturing and environmental cleanup:

• Use of cells for making pharmaceuticals, vitamins and other chemicals, an approach that often eliminates multiple steps while slashing energy and resource requirements, as well as toxic byproducts.
• Use of enzymes to replace or reduce toxic chemicals used in manufacturing, to improve existing products or to enable new manufacturing processes altogether, such as the conversion of plant matter, including agricultural wastes, into fuel or plastics.
• Replacement of animal-derived enzymes with recombinant versions in products or manufacturing processes.
• Use of cells or enzymes for environmental decontamination.

Thanks to a string of technical breakthroughs that have improved efficiency and lowered costs, the sector is growing rapidly and is poised for even faster growth in the coming years. McKinsey & Co. estimates that biotechnology's impact on the chemical industry could rocket from $2 billion in 1999 to $160 billion (cost savings and the value of new products) by 2010.

BIO's I&E Section is growing in tandem with the industry segment it represents, with membership rising about 10 percent a year over the last five years. The section's mission has expanded as well, to encompass not only policy development and advocacy, but also education of the media, the financial community and the chemical industry about the benefits of I&E biotechnology.

NEW BIOTECH TOOLS FOR A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT

A forthcoming BIO-commissioned study suggests wider application of industrial biotechnology could allow businesses to cut costs while lightening the environmental footprint of manufacturing.

The report, New Biotech Tools for a Cleaner Environment, extrapolates the findings of several previously published case studies to suggest the potential impact of employing industrial biotechnology across entire industries. The findings are impressive:

• PAPER Biotech processes could cut toxic sludge waste volumes and paper-bleaching energy requirements by 40 percent.
• TEXTILES Biotech processes could slash water usage for finishing by 15 to 60 percent, air emissions from finishing by almost 50 percent, and energy demand for bleaching by about 12 percent.
• PLASTICS Biobased plastics could cut petrochemical input 20 to 80 percent by substituting corn and other plant material for petroleum in their manufacture. Since biobased plastics are biodegradable, their use also reduces plastic in the waste stream by up to 80 percent.
• ENERGY New enzymes are under development that catalyze production of ethanol from agricultural wastes, such as corn stalks and rice straw. The technology cuts the energy required to manufacture ethanol by 3 percent (vs. corn-based production) while creating a new tool to fight soil erosion, boost farm income and deliver a renewable, domestically produced supplement to petroleum.
• PHARMACEUTICALS AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS Biotechnology-based manufacturing processes cut air emissions associated with production of vitamin B2 and the antibiotic cephalexin by 50 to 80 percent, including substantial reductions in volatile organic compounds. In the case of B₂, water emissions and energy demand drop by about 75 percent.

BIO's goal in publishing and promoting the New Biotech Tools report is to educate business leaders, government officials, environmental groups and the media about the potential environmental benefits of industrial biotechnology. Upon publication, the full report will be posted on BIO's Web site at www.bio.org.

ADVOCACY

Whether it's funding research into new approaches to disease or providing tax incentives for Internet commerce, government support is often critical to getting new technologies off the ground and into wide-scale use. Industrial biotechnology is no exception.

Energy Bill
Thanks to BIO advocacy, the final energy legislation that emerged from a House-Senate conference in 2003 includes $830 million in research and development funding for renewable, biobased energy sources. The conference report, which passed the House and was still awaiting a Senate vote at press time, would acknowledge biotechnology as a pillar of the United States' energy future. BIO supports passage of the energy bill in 2004.

In addition to R&D funding, the bill mandates increased use of ethanol, rising to 5 billion gallons a year by the eighth year of the program. To encourage companies to derive that ethanol from cellulosic biomass — e.g., the corn stalks, stovers, rice and wheat straw left over after harvest — the bill provides a credit for ethanol produced from such sources. Every gallon of cellulosic ethanol would count as 2.5 gallons toward fulfilling the mandate.

The energy bill's biotechnology provisions reflect some of the goals developed in the Bioenergy & Agriculture Working Group of the Energy Future Coalition, a group that encourages energy investment, innovation and long-term planning. The working group, chaired by BIO's vice president for I&E biotechnology, Brent Erickson, in June 2003 recommended the following steps to hasten adoption of bioenergy derived from cellulosic plant matter:

• Accelerate commercialization through a competition among innovative technologies.
• Increase and broaden federal funding for bioenergy.
• Strengthen market incentives.
• Use government policy to increase the use of biobased products.

Biobased Product Purchasing Mandate
Comprehensive farm legislation passed in 2002 includes a mandate that federal agencies buy biobased products whenever feasible. In 2003, BIO worked closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure that regulations implementing the measure make it simple for government officials to comply and for companies that make these products to participate. When the purchasing requirement takes effect in 2004, it will create a significant market for biobased plastics, fibers, fuels and other products.

Biobased Economy Indicators
The U.S. government has made conversion to a biobased economy a national goal but right now has no comprehensive tools for tracking progress toward that goal. BIO, therefore, is urging the federal government to begin collecting and publishing data on industrial biotechnology, just as it does for many other industries of national importance. Such information would stimulate additional interest in the field and provide all stakeholders with a common, consistent set of data.

BIO has created a committee to determine just what data — or indicators — best represent industrial biotechnology. Their recommendations are due in the spring of 2004.

INDUSTRIAL BIOTECH CASE STUDY: Vitamin B2 Synthesis For vitamin B2, industrial biotechnology eliminates numerous steps in synthesis, thereby improving efficiency and cutting water emissions and energy demand by about 75 percent. The result: Three-fourths of all vitamin B2 is now made with a biotech process. OLD Chemical Process NEW Industrial Biotech Process Glucose   Ca-Arabonate Fermentation with genetically modified organism Ca-Ribonate   Riobolactone   Ribose   Ribitylxylidine Glucose feedstock Phenylazo-RX     One-step process Vitamin B2 Vitamin B2

Sustainable Development: An International Goal
Because industrial biotechnology provides tools that allow industry to expand with less pollution and lighter use of resources, it offers economies around the world a pathway to sustainable development in an era of population growth and rising economic expectations.

The Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, whose research and recommendations inform industrial policy in 30 nations, avidly supports the technology and has created a Task Force on Biotechnology for Sustainable Industrial Development.

BIO's vice president of industrial and environmental biotechnology co-chairs the task force, whose top priority in 2004 is researching and writing a report that will make the case for elevating a biobased economy to a top national and international goal. Publication is expected in 2005.

CONFERENCES

Because industrial biotechnology cuts across multiple industries, it doesn't fit neatly into Wall Street categories. And yet, given its potential impact on chemical manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and energy, financial leaders in those areas need to understand the technology and its value.

To reduce this knowledge gap, BIO will host a half-day meeting in New York to provide analysts, investors and financial reporters an overview of the technology, market opportunities and trends. The meeting is slated for February 2004.

In April, BIO will follow up with its most ambitious industrial biotechnology event yet, the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing in Orlando, co-sponsored by the American Chemical Society and the National Agriculture Biotechnology Council. The April 21–23 program covers every facet of the technology, including technical issues, policy, biodefense and nanotechnology applications, and government programs.

September will bring the second annual BIO-ACS CTO Summit. Co-sponsored with the American Chemical Society, the first such meeting, in 2003, brought together biotechnology executives and chief technical officers from the world's top 50 chemical companies. The goal was to educate chemical executives about the technology and spur dialogue about ways to accelerate biotech's use in their industry.