Verenium Corporation

{{Short description|American industrial biotechnology company}} {{Infobox company | name = Verenium Corporation | logo = [[Image:Verenium-logo.PNG|220px|Verenium Corporation]] | type = Public Company ({{NASDAQ|VRNM}}) <ref name="Logan 2017">{{cite web | last=Logan | first=Rob | title=Verenium (VRNM) vs. Trecora Resources (NYSE:TREC) Critical Analysis | website=The Ledger Gazette | date=December 8, 2017 | url=https://ledgergazette.com/2017/12/08/comparing-trecora-resources-trec-and-verenium-corp-vrnm.html | access-date=December 10, 2017}}</ref> | foundation = 2007 | location = [[San Diego]], [[California]] | key_people = James Levine (President & CEO), Janet Roemer (COO), Jeff Black (CFO) | industry = Industrial [[Biotechnology]] | products = [[Enzyme]]s | revenue = | url = | operating_income = | net_income = | num_employees = 130 | homepage = [http://www.verenium.com www.verenium.com] }}

'''Verenium Corporation''' was a [[San Diego, California|San Diego]], [[California]]-based industrial [[biotechnology]] company founded in 2007 as the result of a merger between Diversa (San Diego) and Celunol (Cambridge, MA).<ref>{{cite web|title=Diversa and Celunol Complete Merger to Create Verenium Corporation|date=June 20, 2007|website=Biospace|url=https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/-b-diversa-b-and-b-celunol-b-complete-merger-to-create-verenium-corporation-/}}</ref><ref name="BASF">{{cite news |last= Bigelow|first=Bruce V. |date=24 Sep 2013 |title=Aiming for Chartbuster, Germany’s BASF Acquires San Diego’s Verenium |url=https://www.xconomy.com/san-diego/2013/09/24/aiming-chartbuster-germanys-basf-acquires-san-diegos-verenium/ |work=[[Xconomy]] |location=San Diego, California, USA |access-date=9 Apr 2018 }}</ref> The company specialized in research and development for the production of high performance [[enzyme]]s used in industrial applications, including biofuel generation, [[hydraulic fracturing]].<ref name="BASF"/><ref name="Runge 2014 p. 968">{{cite book | last=Runge | first=W. | title=Technology Entrepreneurship : A Treatise on Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship for and in Technology Ventures. Vol 1 und Vol 2.: | publisher=KIT Scientific Publishing | issue=v. 2 | year=2014 | isbn=978-3-7315-0107-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ONoVBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA968 | access-date=December 10, 2017 | page=968}}</ref> Verenium was acquired by [[BASF]] corporation in 2013.<ref name="BASF"/> The company's tailored enzymes are environmentally friendly, making products and processes greener and more cost-effective for industries including the global food and [[fuel]] markets.

Using proprietary and patented [[genomic]] technologies, BASF extracts microbial [[DNA]] directly from collected samples to avoid the slow and often impossible task of growing [[microbes]] in the laboratory.<ref name="Arico 2015 p. 207">{{cite book | last=Arico | first=S. | title=Ocean Sustainability in the 21st Century | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-316-30077-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jChhBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA207 | access-date=December 10, 2017 | page=207}}</ref> BASF then mines its collection of microbial [[genes]], numbering in the billions, using high-throughput screening technologies designed to identify unique enzymes as product candidates.<ref name="Arico 2015 p. 207"/> As required, these enzymes can then be further optimized for commercial use through the company's patented DirectEvolution technologies. By combining discovery and laboratory evolution technologies, Verenium successfully developed and commercialized a suite of highly differentiated enzyme products tailored to meet the specific needs of companies in various markets, including grain processing, [[biofuels]], animal health and nutrition and other industries.<ref>{{cite book | title=Petroleum Review | publisher=Institute of Petroleum | issue=v. 62, nos. 732-743 | year=2008 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1iMSAQAAMAAJ | access-date=December 10, 2017 | page=293}}</ref> These enzymes products are now offered by BASF.

On September 20, 2013, Verenium entered an agreement to be acquired by [[BASF]], with a 71% acquisition of Verenium.<ref name="Logan 2017"/><ref name="basf">{{cite web |url=http://www.basf.com/group/pressrelease/P-13-444 |title=BASF announces cash offer to acquire specialized enzyme biotechnology company Verenium |publisher=BASF |date=20 September 2013 |access-date=21 September 2013}}</ref>

== See also == * [[Novozymes]] * [[Genencor]] * [[Codexis]]

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.verenium.com}}

[[Category:Companies based in San Diego]] [[Category:Biotechnology companies of the United States]] [[Category:American companies established in 2007]] [[Category:Technology companies established in 2007]]