Amyris, a California-based company focused on wellness products, said it has closed a deal potentially worth $300 million with biotech startup Lavvan to research and develop synthetic cannabinoids.
The move follows that of Canada’s Cronos Group inking a $122 million deal with Boston-based Ginkgo Bioworks last September to produce lab-grown cannabinoids.
Analysts at Toronto-based Paradigm Capital said in a note that it expects a rash of deals in this sector to follow.
“Synthetic biology is becoming a cornerstone technology in the portfolios of forward-thinking companies,” Paradigm Capital wrote.
“Companies developing products solely from the cultivation of cannabis plants will find themselves unable to compete with the manifold advantages associated with industrial-scale cannabinoid biosynthesis.”
Amyris trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AMRS.
Lavvan is a privately held startup with executives from the pharmaceutical, financial and cannabis industries.
More details on the Amyris deal can be found here.
