Metabolix co-founder and chief scientific officer, Oliver P. Peoples, Ph.D.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - December 10, 2008 - Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX) today announced that its co-founder and chief scientific officer, Oliver P. Peoples, Ph.D., has been recognized for his "Personal Contribution to Bioplastics" at the Bioplastics Awards at the 10th Annual Bioplastics Conference in Munich organized by European Plastics News.

The Bioplastics Awards are designed to recognize the innovations, successes and achievements of companies and individuals involved in the bioplastics market. The Personal Contribution to the Bioplastics Industry is a special award given by the European Plastics News editorial team to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the development of the bioplastics sector.

"On behalf of the Board of Directors and all of the Company's employees and partners, we congratulate Olly for receiving this distinguished award. He is a gifted scientist and pioneer in this field that we expect will have significant lasting benefits for our environment and the people of the world," said Jay Kouba, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board, Metabolix.

"I am truly honored to receive this recognition for my work in the bioplastics industry and I want to thank the editorial team at EPN for this award, but I certainly could not have achieved these successes without the support and hard work of my colleagues and research teams," said Dr. Peoples. "The development of sustainable, clean solutions for plastics, chemicals and energy is not only the Company's mission, but also my personal goal. The commercial scale production of Mirel(TM bioplastic set to take place next year may seem like the culmination of what has been my life’s work since arriving at MIT 20 years ago, but it's really only the beginning of what our technology can bring to the world."

Mirel is a family of biobased, sustainable and biodegradable plastics that provides an excellent alternative to traditional, petroleum-based plastics. Mirel will biodegrade in a wide range of environments including soil, home compost, industrial compost, wetlands, rivers and oceans.

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(TM) bioplastics, a sustainable and biodegradable alternative to petroleum-based plastics. Mirel is suitable for injection molding, extrusion coating, cast film and sheet, blown film and thermoforming. Metabolix is also developing a proprietary platform technology for co-producing plastics, chemicals and energy from crops such as switchgrass, oilseeds and sugarcane.

Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) are commercializing Mirel through a joint venture called Telles. The first commercial scale Mirel production plant is being constructed adjacent to ADM's wet corn mill in Clinton, Iowa. The plant is designed to produce up to 110 million pounds of Mirel annually. Mirel will reduce reliance on petroleum and decrease environmental impacts relative to conventional petroleum-based plastics.

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

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release which are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding expectations for Mirel commercial production and the commercially produced Mirel material, constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, without limitation, risks associated with: the Company's ability to develop and successfully commercialize Mirel, market acceptance of Metabolix products, the Company's ability to compete with petroleum-based plastics, chemicals and energy and with other biobased products, and other risks detailed in Metabolix filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Metabolix assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein.

Metabolix, Inc.

Metabolix, Inc.

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(TM) bioplastics, a sustainable and biodegradable alternative to petroleum-based plastics. Mirel is suitable for injection molding, extrusion coating, cast film and sheet, blown film and thermoforming. Metabolix is also developing a proprietary platform technology for co-producing plastics, chemicals and energy, from crops such as switchgrass, oilseeds and sugarcane. Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) are commercializing Mirel through a joint venture called Telles. The first commercial scale Mirel production plant is being constructed adjacent to ADM's wet corn mill in Clinton, Iowa. The plant is designed to produce up to 110 million pounds of Mirel annually. Mirel will reduce reliance on petroleum and decrease environmental impacts relative to conventional petroleum-based plastics. For more information, please visit www.metabolix.com. (MBLX-G) For the Metabolix press kit please visit http://www.metabolix.com/news/press.html.

More from Metabolix, Inc.