GCOR Genencor International, (MM)

Genencor Celebrates Major Progress in the Conversion of Biomass to Ethanol Reduction in Enzyme Cost Overcomes Significant Obstacle in Alternative Fuel Production PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genencor International, Inc. (NASDAQ:GCOR), and U.S. government representatives gathered at Genencor's Palo Alto headquarters today to celebrate their progress in the quest to convert biomass to ethanol and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Genencor scientists and colleagues from the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) acknowledged the significance of the completion of their 4-year collaboration to reduce the costs of enzymes to enable a commercially viable process of using cellulosic biomass (such as agricultural waste) to make ethanol, which can currently be made from sugar cane and starchy grains. Genencor also announced that it has achieved an estimated cellulase cost in the range of $0.10-$0.20 per gallon of ethanol in NREL's cost model. This represents an approximate 30-fold improvement in enzyme cost in that model. NREL is expected to validate these results at pilot scale within the next quarter. Genencor noted that the actual enzyme cost and the final cost of ethanol in a commercial process will be heavily dependent upon overcoming the remaining hurdles in the development of integrated biorefineries. "We have exceeded the contractual goals and the expectations of the DOE and NREL," said Michael V. Arbige, Genencor's senior vice president of technology. "But more importantly, we have overcome a critical hurdle in making biorefineries and alternative fuels a reality." The technology developed is an important step toward realizing the potential of biorefineries, analogous to an oil refinery today, in which plant and waste materials are used to produce an array of fuels and chemicals. Further progress toward a commercially viable biorefinery depends on the development of pilot-scale, real-world processes for biomass conversion. Genencor is working with Cargill-Dow on such a project, also funded by the Department of Energy (DOE), and looks forward to working with others as biorefinery development advances toward industrial scale. Earlier this month, this work was acknowledged by R&D magazine as one of the Top 100 Technologically Significant Products for 2004, in a joint award to Genencor, NREL and Novozymes Biotech. About Genencor Genencor International is a diversified biotechnology company that develops and delivers innovative products and services into the health care, agri-processing, industrial and consumer markets. Using an integrated set of technology platforms, Genencor's products deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to improve the quality of life. Genencor traces its history to 1982 and has grown to become a leading biotechnology company, with over $380 million in year 2003 annual revenues. Genencor has principal offices in Palo Alto, California; Rochester, New York; and Leiden, the Netherlands. This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and all other statements which are other than statements of historical fact, including without limitation, statements containing words such as "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates," "projects," "will," "may," "might" and words of a similar nature. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Some important factors that could cause actual results to differ include dependence on the efforts of third parties; dependence on new and uncertain technology and its uncertain application to new business ventures; regulatory actions or delays, or uncertainties related to product development, testing or manufacturing; ability to form and maintain strategic alliances; dependence on certain intellectual property rights of both Genencor and third parties; and the competitive nature of Genencor's industry; risks of obsolescence of certain technology. These and other risk factors are more fully discussed in Genencor's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained in this release represent the judgment of Genencor as of the date of this press release. Genencor disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements. DATASOURCE: Genencor International, Inc. CONTACT: media, Valerie Tucker, +1-650-846-7571, or investors, Thomas Rathjen, +1-650-846-5810, both of Genencor International, Inc. Web site: http://www.genencor.com/

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