The Innovation Show

EP 48: From Stonewashed Jeans to Lifesaving Genes


Listen Later

On this week's innovation show we talk to Mark Emalfarb the founder and CEO of Dyadic International, Inc. a public company that trades on the OTCQX Markets under the stock symbol "DYAI". This is a phenomenal story and a truly remarkable 4 decade entrepreneurial journey. Mark was told he had rocks in his head when he helped pioneer the concept of using rocks (pumice stones) in a washing machine, the process of stonewashed jeans. When Mark looked to innovate and move to enzyme-based stonewashing, he hired a team of Russian bioengineers and biotechnology experts to develop an enzyme that could soften and fade denim using a biotechnology process that was more environmentally friendly, thus making denim more comfortable and fashionable. Through this work he discovered a Russian fungus that he nicknamed C1 which Dyadic scientists hyper accelerated C1's ability to make large amounts of low cost enzymes Dyadic sold to the blue jeans manufactures like Levi, Guess, Wrangler and others for use in the stonewash process. In December of 2015 Dyadic's industrial biotech company was acquired by DuPont for $75 million and this has allowed Dyadic to focus on what Mark describes in his interview as the final frontier. Ever the pioneer, Mark and Dyadic are now focussed on pursuing research and development collaborations, licensing arrangements and other commercial opportunities with its partners and collaborators to leverage the value and benefits of the C1 technology to help in developing and manufacturing biopharmaceuticals. In particular, as the ageing population grows in developed and undeveloped countries, Dyadic believes the C1 technology may help bring biologic drugs to market faster, in greater volumes, at lower cost, and with new properties to drug developers and manufacturers and, hopefully, improve access and cost to patients and the healthcare system, but most importantly save lives.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Innovation ShowBy The Innovation Show

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

50 ratings


More shows like The Innovation Show

View all
HBR IdeaCast by Harvard Business Review

HBR IdeaCast

1,858 Listeners

Coaching for Leaders by Dave Stachowiak

Coaching for Leaders

1,460 Listeners

The Tim Ferriss Show by Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig

The Tim Ferriss Show

16,086 Listeners

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

508 Listeners

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk by Ryan Hawk

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

1,293 Listeners

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving by FirmsConsulting.com & StrategyTraining.com

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

108 Listeners

Cold Call by HBR Presents / Brian Kenny

Cold Call

191 Listeners

Masters of Scale by WaitWhat

Masters of Scale

3,965 Listeners

Creative Confidence Podcast by IDEO U

Creative Confidence Podcast

127 Listeners

Y Combinator Startup Podcast by Y Combinator

Y Combinator Startup Podcast

206 Listeners

Akimbo: A Podcast from Seth Godin by Seth Godin

Akimbo: A Podcast from Seth Godin

1,755 Listeners

Inside the Strategy Room by McKinsey & Company

Inside the Strategy Room

171 Listeners

A Bit of Optimism by Simon Sinek

A Bit of Optimism

2,163 Listeners

HBR On Strategy by Harvard Business Review

HBR On Strategy

78 Listeners

HBR On Leadership by Harvard Business Review

HBR On Leadership

147 Listeners