Dutch renewables specialist Avantium has sold its bioaromatics patent portfolio to The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, TNO, for an undisclosed sum.

The sale includes patents and know-how for technologies that produce bio-derived products for polymers and coatings. Avantium said these technologies lie outside its strategic focus and will now be developed further by TNO.

“This bioaromatics patent portfolio fits well into TNO’s development strategy. Avantium will continue to support TNO in this area and can provide proprietary single flow testing equipment to accelerate TNO’s R&D efforts,” said Zanna McFerson, managing director of Avantium Renewable Chemistries.

Last month, Avantium Renewable Polymers signed a letter of intent to build a 5,000 t/y plant for bio-based furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a key building block for polyethylene furanoate (PEF). The facility, located at Chemie Park Delfzijl in the Netherlands, is expected to start production in 2023.