Verenium Corporation

{{Short description|American industrial biotechnology company}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Verenium Corporation

| logo = Image:Verenium-logo.PNG

| type = Public Company ({{NASDAQ|VRNM}}) {{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}}

| foundation = 2007

| location = San Diego, California

| key_people = James Levine (President & CEO), Janet Roemer (COO), Jeff Black (CFO)

| industry = Industrial Biotechnology

| products = Enzymes

| revenue =

| url =

| operating_income =

| net_income =

| num_employees = 130

| homepage = [http://www.verenium.com www.verenium.com]

}}

Verenium Corporation was a San Diego, California-based industrial biotechnology company founded in 2007 as the result of a merger between Diversa (San Diego) and Celunol (Cambridge, MA).{{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-/}}{{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 }} The company specialized in research and development for the production of high performance enzymes used in industrial applications, including biofuel generation, hydraulic fracturing.{{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}} Verenium was acquired by BASF corporation in 2013. 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.{{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}} 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. 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.{{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}} 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.{{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}}