Squalene
How Amyris and Croda partnered to transform the supply chain for Squalene, a life-saving molecule used in vaccine adjuvants. Against a backdrop of geopolitical and climate unpredictability, Amyris enables its partners secure their supply chains for critical ingredients across industries.
≥99% pure product
meeting the stringent requirements of vaccine manufacturers.
A robust, ethical, and scalable supply chain
eliminating reliance upon fragile marine ecosystems.
Enhances global health infrastructure
supporting preparedness for future outbreaks.
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Historically sourced from shark livers, Squalene is a critical ingredient used in water-in-oil emulsions in influenza vaccine formulations to elicit a broad and rapid immune response.
This is especially important for vulnerable populations such as infants and seniors. However, shark populations have plummeted by >70% in the last 50 years. leading to concerns that its availability will wane—either due to continued population erosion, or due to a ban on shark fishing. Meanwhile, factors such as increased global trade and intensive agricultural practices have escalated the risk of future influenza pandemics, making a secure supply of squalene more important than ever.
Really, the simplest message is that any ingredient taken from a wild animal is not sustainable long-term, because it’s a limited resource that doesn’t replenish quickly enough.
Stefanie Brendl
Founder and Executive Director of Shark Allies
With a clear and urgent need in the market, Amyris created a scalable and reliable supply of squalene using its proprietary fermentation platform. Amyris partnered with Croda, a world leader in pharmaceutical excipients, vaccine adjuvants, lipids, and bioprocessing ingredients, to bring Sustainably Sourced Squalene to the market.
With its robust industrial manufacturing capabilities, Amyris produces a sugarcane-derived fermentation extract, high in squalene content, that can entirely replace deep sea shark livers in the raw material supply chain. Drawing on its globally recognized expertise and excellence in purification, Croda transforms the extract into GMP-quality Squalene and markets the material worldwide.
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The fusion of Amyris’s pioneering fermentation technology and Croda’s expertise in pharmaceutical-grade purification delivers a squalene solution that surpasses traditional standards for purity and stability. This unique synergy is fully aligned with Croda’s commitment to be the most sustainable supplier of innovative vaccine ingredients in a rapidly evolving global landscape.
Angela Kleiner
Head of Insights & Innovation - Vaccine Adjuvants, Croda
Performance and security
With purity that exceeds the Ph. Eur. Monograph specification and formulated emulsion stability indistinguishable from shark squalene, this fermentation-derived Squalene meets the stringent performance requirements of the vaccine industry while providing assurance on long-term availability and quality.
Corporate commitments
Our partnership exemplifies Croda’s 2022 commitment to contribute to a Nature Positive world by 2030, guided by principles set out by the Nature Positive Initiative. By decoupling squalene production from deep sea shark fishing, our partnership has created an agile, resilient, and future-proofed supply chain of squalene.
Market expansion
By increasing the availability of squalene and removing risk around its future sourcing, we enable researchers and vaccine manufacturers to have full confidence in supply, opening the door to new treatments and vaccines that leverage squalene’s powerful pharmaceutical properties in protecting human health.
Squalene has excellent properties as an adjuvant. If it were more broadly available, more vaccine manufacturers would want it in their products.
Christopher Fox
Associate Dean of Research, College of Engineering Professor, Department of Biological Engineering, Utah State University