METabolic EXplorer has obtained a €9.6- million French government subsidy in support of its investment in an industrial plant for the production of glycolic acid in France

This project, whose cost is currently estimated at between €40 million and €45 million, has two phases: the studies and developments necessary to make investment decisions in late 2021 and the investment in the construction and commissioning of the production unit with a capacity in its initial phase of 2,500t/year.

The development activities that will be carried out in the glycolic acid project in 2021 have two objectives: a decision at the end of 2021 concerning the industrialization of the technology to target the cosmetics market and the preparation of industrial partnerships for polymer applications, particularly in the medical industry, a high value-added market.

This €9.6 million in funding from the French government will go toward the construction by METEX of the first production unit in France and Europe. Glycolic acid is currently produced exclusively by American and Asian petrochemical manufacturers. This industrial plant, which will employ fermentation technology, will be the first in the world to produce bio-based glycolic acid. This subsidy is being provided in a French government program to support investment in the transformation of agricultural resources and the bio-production of basic industrial inputs, two strategic priorities of the government’s industrial stimulus policy.