Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX), a bioscience company focused on
developing clean, sustainable solutions for plastics, chemicals and
energy, today announced that Johan van Walsem has joined the company as
Vice President of Commercial Development. Mr. van Walsem will be
responsible for the development of Metabolix business strategies and
commercial development activities for its non-Telles activities,
primarily crop and microbial fermentation technology programs.
Mr. van Walsem has extensive experience in nearly every aspect of bulk
and specialty biochemical product commercialization. He returns to
Metabolix following a 16 month period as Senior Vice President, R&D and
Bioprocessing at Joule Biotechnologies, a clean technology start-up in
Cambridge.
In his earlier role as Vice President Manufacturing, Development and
Operations at Metabolix, Mr. van Walsem was integral in the technical
development and business model design for Mirel, a bio-based,
biodegradable polymer now being commercialized through Telles, a 50/50
joint venture between Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland.
Richard P. Eno, President and CEO, Metabolix, said, “We are very excited
to welcome Johan back to Metabolix. He was a key member of the team
responsible for bringing our first platform to market and we look
forward to his leadership as we do the same with our emerging crop and
microbial platforms.”
Mr. van Walsem received a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the
University of Pretoria in 1986 and a MBA from the University of South
Africa in 1995. He is a registered professional engineer with the
Engineering Council of South Africa and a member of AIChE (American
Institute of Chemical Engineers).
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™, a family of high performance
bioplastics which are biobased and biodegradable alternatives to many
petroleum based plastics. 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)
ICR
Media:
Matt Lindberg, 203-682-8214
matthew.lindberg@icrinc.com
or
Brian
Ruby, 203-682-8268
brian.ruby@icrinc.com
or
Investors:
Anthony
Gallo, 203-682-8335
anthony.gallo@icrinc.com
