Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX) and Archer Daniels Midland Company today announced the appointment of Stan Haftka, Ph.D., as Director of Business Development, Europe, for Telles, the joint venture that is commercializing Mirel™ bioplastics. Dr. Haftka will lead European business development with the opening of Telles’ first international office at ADM’s Europoort facility in the Netherlands.

Dr. Haftka has 20 years of experience in the global specialty polymer market and brings leadership assets important for the organization’s international growth. “We’re pleased to have Stan join the Telles team as he will play an instrumental role in the global expansion of our business,” said Bob Engle, General Manager of Telles. “His technical background, management and leadership experience, as well as his prior success in leading European and Asian business development for specialty polymers businesses will greatly benefit Telles.”

Dr. Haftka joins Telles from the engineering polymers business of Celanese Corporation, where he served as Global Segment Manager, GUR New Technologies, responsible for managing the business segment globally. He successfully developed and implemented new business strategies, managed numerous product and application platforms, and received patents for new polymer applications.

About Mirel Bioplastics

Mirel is a family of bioplastic materials with the physical properties of petroleum-based resins, yet with a unique combination of being biobased and biodegradable in natural soil and water environments, and in home and industrial composting facilities, in areas where such facilities are available. The rate and extent of Mirel’s biodegradability will depend on the size and shape of the articles made from it. However, like nearly all bioplastics and organic matter, Mirel is not designed to biodegrade in conventional landfills.

Mirel bioplastics are available for injection molding, blown and cast film, and cast sheet applications. Telles is the joint venture between Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland Company that is commercializing Mirel bioplastics. The first commercial-scale plant to produce Mirel bioplastic resins is being constructed adjacent to ADM's wet corn mill in Clinton, Iowa. For more information please visit www.mirelplastics.com.

About Metabolix

Founded in 1992, Metabolix, Inc. is an innovation-driven bioscience company focused on providing sustainable solutions for the world’s needs for plastics, chemicals and energy. The Company is taking a systems approach, from gene to end product, integrating sophisticated biotechnology with advanced industrial practice. Metabolix is now developing and commercializing Mirel™, a family of high performance bioplastics which are biobased and biodegradable alternatives to many petroleum based plastics. Metabolix is also developing a proprietary platform technology for co-producing plastics, chemicals and energy, from crops such as switchgrass, oilseeds and sugarcane.

For more information, please visit www.metabolix.com. (MBLX-G)