Danish biomanufacturing firm Again has acquired U.S.-based industrial biotechnology veteran Genomatica, combining carbon-conversion capabilities with decades of artificial intelligence molecule discovery data. Financial terms were not disclosed in the cross-border transaction.
The deal brings together Copenhagen-headquartered Again, a young carbon dioxide-to-chemical pioneer, with San Diego’s Genomatica, widely recognized as an established player in biobased chemicals since its founding in 1998. The transaction unites Again’s modular bioreactors and engineered Moorella bacteria with Genomatica’s extensive intellectual property portfolio, which includes more than 1,100 patents and nearly three decades of computational process data.
Combining Carbon Capture Execution with Genomatica Data Assets
At the center of the agreement is data. Again is absorbing Genomatica’s entire AI computational biotech platform, gaining access to experimental results, structural insights, scale-up outcomes, and predictive machine-learning analytics. Company executives stress that simulation models require real-world grounding to drive commercial results.
“AI is revolutionizing biology, but algorithms are only as good as their ability to translate into real-world, commercial-scale execution. Geno pioneered AI and computational biotechnology for molecule discovery and design. By integrating that with our scale-up platform and novel feedstock technologies, we are building the world’s leading biomanufacturing platform, unlocking novel products and supply-chains that industries critically need.”
Max Kufner, CEO of Again
Founded in 2021 out of research from the Technical University of Denmark, Again uses engineered microbes to convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen into chemicals like acetic acid. The company has operated a facility in Texas since 2025 that uses carbon dioxide from neighboring Dow operations and has raised $67 million since its founding, according to PitchBook data cited in industry reports. Meanwhile, Genomatica relies primarily on engineered Escherichia coli strains to ferment plant sugars into sustainable industrial intermediates.
Commercial Track Records and Multi-Model Production Strategies
The acquisition pairs Again’s early industrial installations with Genomatica’s established commercial deployment history. Genomatica’s 1,4-butanediol technology has operated at a Novamont plant in Italy since 2016. In addition, the Qore joint venture between Cargill and Helm opened a $360 million BDO plant in Iowa last year using Genomatica’s technology. Helm also signed a 10-year agreement in 2024 to market Again’s commodity chemicals, including acetic acid and esters.
James Iademarco, founder and president of consulting firm Strategic Avalanche, described Genomatica as one of the survivors
in the industrial biotechnology sector. He noted that the company successfully navigated the difficult path from laboratory science to commercial markets by building robust partnerships across the chemical value chain, collaborating previously with Unilever and Kao on palm oil alternatives and with Aquafil on biobased nylon intermediates.
“There’s been a lot of obvious industry mistakes that Genomatica have, frankly, either sidestepped or figured out throughout their journey.”
James Iademarco, founder and president of Strategic Avalanche
Following the integration, the combined enterprise intends to pursue three distinct business models: licensing its technology where it scales, co-developing production pathways with strategic partners, and selling chemicals manufactured directly from its own operational and upcoming production assets.
Macroeconomic Pressures and Domestic Supply-Chain Resilience
The transaction takes place against a backdrop of increasing governmental focus in the United States and Europe on expanding domestic biomanufacturing capacity and securing supply chains against international vulnerabilities. Federal initiatives, including the BIOSECURE Act and commitments of up to $15 billion for domestic bio-infrastructure, aim to boost investment in biotechnology and decrease dependence on overseas production.
By bringing together Again’s feedstock-independent carbon conversion processes with Genomatica’s plant-sugar fermentation expertise, the unified company projects an estimated combined capacity to divert up to 85 million tons of carbon dioxide per year through direct capture and indirect emission avoidance. As integration proceeds, existing Genomatica partners will continue to receive support during the transition, while the combined technical teams look to accelerate product development cycles from initial pathway discovery to commercial-scale execution.
