Home » AFYREN begins new phase of industrial strategy as first plant AFYREN NEOXY achieves continuous production

AFYREN begins new phase of industrial strategy as first plant AFYREN NEOXY achieves continuous production

17 June 2025

Press release

Clermont-Ferrand/Lyon, June 17, 2025, at 7:30 a.m. CEST – AFYREN, a greentech company offering industrial customers bio-based, low-carbon products through its unique fermentation technology based on a circular model, today announced its first plant AFYREN NEOXY has achieved continuous production, enabling the acceleration of commercialization.

“The transition to continuous production at AFYREN NEOXY, the first biorefinery using the AFYREN technology, demonstrates our command of all key stages of an innovative process with no equivalents worldwide. This major success marks the end of an especially demanding period for our teams, whose dedication and resilience I sincerely commend. We are now in the industrial ramp-up phase, enabling us to regularly deliver finished products to our customers in increasing volumes. Building on this success, we are planning to increase our industrial capacity production gradually in coming quarters, in order to better capitalize on AFYREN NEOXY.”

Nicolas SORDET, Chief Executive Officer of AFYREN

Continuous production achieved and acceleration in commercialization

AFYREN has successfully manufactured hundreds of tons of products in recent weeks, resulting from continuous production at the plant. The bio-based acids produced are currently undergoing qualification prior to delivery, in accordance with the multi-year contracts signed with customers.

This major milestone is the culmination of two years of efforts by the AFYREN and AFYREN NEOXY teams to ensure the reliability of the equipment and mastering the operating conditions at industrial scale, ensuring the continuous operation of this unique biorefinery.

This milestone marks the beginning of a new phase that will see the gradual ramp-up of AFYREN NEOXY’s industrial production to ultimately achieve the targets set in 2021: annual production revenue of around €35 million with a current EBITDA margin of around 25% (equivalent to a current EBITDA of around €9 million) at full capacity (16,000 tons per year).

During the ramp-up period, product shipment will be made on a regular basis with priority given to long-term customers. As a reminder, commercial commitments secured through contracts represent cumulative revenue of over €165 million, to be recognized in the upcoming years. These contracts are with leading players in the target markets of human nutrition and feed, flavors and fragrances, life sciences, materials sciences, and lubricants.

Update on short and medium-term objectives

On this basis, AFYREN NEOXY expects production revenue in 2025 to be in the low single-digit million euros range. The plant is expected to break even (positive current EBITDA) within a few quarters.

In parallel, AFYREN is planning targeted investments to lift bottlenecks at the AFYREN NEOXY plant. By doing so, AFYREN would increase production capacity and boost target profitability beyond the previously mentioned objectives.

AFYREN’s medium-term objectives will be updated to reflect the progress of the AFYREN NEOXY ramp-up. The core operational and financial targets remain unchanged — specifically the plan to build and operate three production sites, generating a combined €150 million in revenue at full capacity with a target Group EBITDA margin of around 30%.

Instead of adhering strictly to the current target of having three plants installed, of which two in continuous production by 2028, AFYREN is exploring a phased approach. This would allow the company to consolidate the achievements of its first biorefinery and leverage the operational experience gained before moving forward with the development of Plants 2 and 3.

This approach will enable the Group to maintain a safe degree of agility and keep good control of AFYREN’s cash burn and should enable the financing of future plants under optimized conditions.

“The transition to continuous production is a major milestone in AFYREN’s history. The Company is joining a very select group of companies that have successfully industrialized a competitive green technology. This is a remarkable achievement in the increasingly demanding and selective chemical industry. It opens up extremely positive prospects for our company in terms of industrial and commercial development”

Stefan BORGAS, Chairman of AFYREN’s Board of Directors