Covation Biomaterials LLC has agreed to sell its interest in Primient Covation LLC (also known as CovationBio PDO / Primient), the world’s largest producer of 100% bio-based 1,3-propanediol (BioPDO). The move marks a strategic portfolio rebalancing, not a retreat from bio-based chemistry.
What Is Really Happening
This transaction is best understood as a capital and focus rotation:
- BioPDO is a mature, scaled, and commercially stable platform
- bioPTMEG, by contrast, represents CovationBio’s next growth engine, with commercialization targeted for 2026
- CovationBio is exiting ownership, not access: a long-term supply agreement ensures uninterrupted BioPDO supply for Sorona polymer production.
In effect, CovationBio is monetizing a proven asset to fund and accelerate the next wave of biomaterials innovation.
Why BioPDO Was the Logical Asset to Exit
BioPDO has been embedded in Sorona® for more than 25 years. It is:
- Technically de-risked
- Commercially scaled
- Well understood by the market
From a strategy perspective, this makes it ideal to decouple ownership from supply, freeing capital and management attention for higher-growth, higher-impact technologies.
As CEO Steven Ackerman notes, BioPDO remains “one part of a larger ecosystem of sustainable materials”—not the endpoint.
bioPTMEG: Why This Matters for Apparel, Footwear & Elastomers
CovationBio’s upcoming bioPTMEG is where the real inflection lies.
Key characteristics:
- 2nd-generation bio-based polyether glycol
- Derived from corn cobs, not primary food crops
- Drop-in replacement for petroleum-based PTMEG
- No major process changes required downstream
This is critical because PTMEG sits at the heart of:
- Spandex / elastane
- Polyurethanes
- Thermoplastic elastomers
That means direct relevance to:
- Performance and athletic apparel
- Footwear components
- Industrial elastics
- Automotive interiors and components
In practical terms: bioPTMEG attacks one of the hardest decarbonization problems in textiles—stretch and elasticity—without asking converters to retool.
Sorona® Remains the Anchor Platform
CovationBio remains the producer of 37% plant-based Sorona® polymer, first launched in 2000 and now deeply embedded across:
- Activewear and performance apparel
- Workwear and outerwear
- Fashion and ready-to-wear
- Home textiles and carpets
Updated third-party reviewed LCA results (released September 2025) reinforce Sorona’s environmental positioning:
- 44% less energy and 170% lower GHG emissions vs. nylon 6
- 41% lower GHG emissions vs. PET
- Even outperforming fossil-based PBT on energy and emissions
This matters because Sorona® provides commercial proof that CovationBio can scale bio-based polymers globally.
Strategic Takeaway
This is not a divestment driven by weakness—it is capital discipline.
CovationBio is:
- Locking in long-term BioPDO supply
- Exiting asset ownership where upside is incremental
- Reallocating resources to bioPTMEG, where the upside is structural
In an industry increasingly constrained by Scope 3 pressure, performance expectations, and process inertia, materials that are drop-in, scalable, and verifiably lower-impact will win.
CovationBio is positioning itself accordingly—moving from first-generation bio-success to second-generation biomaterials leadership, just as apparel.
