Evolva successfully completes Roquette collaboration, triggering a fourth milestone payment

Evolva (SIX: EVE) today announces the successful completion of the collaboration with Roquette Frères (Roquette), which started in January 2012. The project focussed on an ingredient with important applications in food products.

After delivering an initial yeast strain in May 2015, Evolva has now provided Roquette with a final, improved version. This should enable a leaner and more efficient fermentation route to the target food ingredient. The improved strain exceeds the predefined productivity goals by between 10% and 65%. This concludes Evolva’s contribution to the project and Roquette will be responsible for the further steps towards commercial production.

Evolva is entitled to a final payment within the next few weeks, based on the value added by Evolva’s production route. The payment amounts to CHF 1.2 million and has no impact on the financial outlook for 2015.

Thierry Marcel, Executive Vice President Research & Development of Roquette said, "We are very pleased with the contribution Evolva made to our never ending drive to get better and go further. Evolva’s dedicated team of scientists came up with an elegant and efficient production route to this important ingredient. We may turn to Evolva again in future.”

Neil Goldsmith, CEO of Evolva added, "I am very proud of the fact that Evolva delivered this successful outcome. We over-delivered, while staying within the agreed time frame and budget. This is an excellent example of us providing our partners with a competitive edge.”

After the completion of the Roquette project, Evolva is now internally pursuing the development of an additional ingredient. This additional ingredient is aimed at a very different application area, but derives from a pathway, related to Roquette’s target product. Whilst early, the development builds upon the high performance strains developed during the collaboration with Roquette.

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About Evolva

Evolva is a pioneer and global leader in sustainable, fermentation-based approaches to ingredients for health, wellness and nutrition. Evolva’s products include stevia, resveratrol, vanillin, nootkatone and saffron. As well as developing its own proprietary ingredients, Evolva also deploys its technology for partners, providing them with a competitive edge and sharing in the returns they make. For more information see www.evolva.com. Questions about our fermentation approach? Have a look at our video.

About Roquette

Roquette, a family-owned group with an international dimension, processes maize, wheat, potatoes, peas and microalgae, all plant-based raw materials. One of the world’s five leading starch manufacturing businesses, it offers its customers a wide range of products and solutions in the fields of Food, Nutrition and Health, as well as Plant-based Chemistry. Since its foundation over 80 years ago, the Group’s development has been based on innovation, passion for the job and commitment to achieve. Roquette operates in over 100 countries, has a turnover of 3.1 billion euros and currently employs more than 8,000 people in the world. Its mission: « Serving women and men by offering the best of nature ».

This press release contains specific forward-looking statements, e.g. statements including terms like believe, assume, expect or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may result in a substantial divergence between the actual results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and those explicitly or implicitly presumed in these statements. Against the background of these uncertainties readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The company assumes no responsibility to update forward-looking statements or to adapt them to future events or developments.

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