Opening Plenary: A 15-Year Journey to Figure out How to Derive the Most Economic Value from Metabolic Engineering

Christophe Schilling, CEO, Genomatica

As a founder and CEO, Christophe Schilling has led Genomatica from a developer of metabolic engineering tools to a position of leadership in biotech processes for the production of major chemicals – with multiple customers, $125 million in equity investments, and numerous awards for their technology, commercialization results and corporate culture.

Please join Christophe as he takes you on a 15 year (and counting) personal tour of his experiences. How did Genomatica go from pioneers in the commercial application of computational modeling of metabolism for the life sciences to the choice of a specific business strategy focused on developing and licensing process technology for chemical production, and the addition of experimental capabilities, process engineering and other core strengths?  Christophe will speak to the technical, business and people issues that come up when starting with an idea, building a company, raising money, getting customers, and more.  He’ll also share his personal view of where metabolic engineering can ‘most readily’ turn into economic value – and what it takes to do so.