14. February 2012

DIREVO and BASF announce sale of Direvo’s novel engineered enzyme to BASF

Ludwigshafen and Cologne, Germany – February 14, 2012 - BASF SE, a leader in sustainable animal nutrition based in Ludwigshafen, Germany and Direvo, an industrial biotechnology expert from Cologne, Germany, announce the recent sale of Direvo’s novel feed enzyme to BASF. Direvo applied its expertise in industrial biotechnology to discover, develop and optimize a mannanase enzyme that meets the needs of the feed industry.

Direvo´s tailor-made feed enzyme is an optimized and improved mannanase. It displays superior temperature stability and efficacy. This novel enzyme will complement the existing range of feed enzymes that BASF currently markets.

"There is no comparable enzyme on the market," said Dr. Jorg Riesmeier, CEO of Direvo Industrial Biotechnology GmbH. "In bringing this program to a successful sale, Direvo has again demonstrated the versatility and power of its proprietary technology platform." Enzyme engineering brings several of Direvo's core competencies into play, including high-throughput screening and assay development.

"We are pleased that our unique enzyme with optimal characteristics for the animal feed industry is enabling BASF to accelerate work on efficient and sustainable nutrition" he added.

"Enzymes are one of the focus areas of our innovation activities," said Dr. Martin Jager Global Head of BASF´s Animal Nutrition Business. "Direvo´s mannanase is an innovative product with excellent market potential due to its combination of temperature and pelleting stability. This technology package broadens our enzyme know how and enhances our capabilities to make future animal nutrition more efficient and cost-effective."



About Direvo Industrial Biotechnology GmbH

Direvo is a biotechnology company with a focus on the biomass conversion industry. Direvo identifies bottlenecks and weaknesses in current industrial processes in this sector and develops and implements biology-based solutions together with large and small industrial partners. Direvo’s products are newly designed enzymes and microorganisms of the highest quality that provide easy-toimplement, cost-effective solutions. Direvo’s contribution assures that our partners stay competitive and profitable while we add to their ability to make the future cleaner, greener and safer. More information about Direvo is available on the internet at www.direvo.com.



About BASF

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success, social responsibility and environmental protection. Through science and innovation we enable our customers in almost all industries to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and system solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring healthy food and nutrition and helping to improve the quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF posted sales of about € 63.9 billion in 2010 and had approximately 109,000 employees as of the end of 2010. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com or in the Social Media Newsroom at newsroom.basf.com.



About Animal Nutrition

BASF is a global leader in sustainable animal nutrition – offering vitamins, carotenoids, enzymes, organic acids, and specialties for all types of feed. BASF’s products are mainly fed to ruminants, poultry, pigs, farmed fish, and companion animals. Innovative products (such as Natugrain® TS), modern technologies (including white biotechnology), and BASF’s leading sustainability concept (S.E.T.) pave the way for making animal nutrition not only more efficient and cost-effective, but also more sustainable. BASF’s expert teams help the nutrition industry analyze and systematically improve the efficiency and sustainability of its products and make verifiable value propositions to the entire value chain up to and including consumers. BASF is firmly committed to supporting efforts to sustainably provide enough food for the world’s growing population – both today and in the future. For more information visit www.animal-nutrition.basf.com and www.set-initiative.basf.com.


02. February 2012

We deeply regret to announce that our longtime Member of the Advisory Board Dr. Alfred Oberholz passed away unexpectedly on February 2nd, 2012.Alfred Oberholz guided our company over the years and gave precious advice. We appreciated Alfred Oberholz as an honest and fair-minded colleague. We will miss him.

Our deepest sympathy is with his wife and his family.




22. November 2011

DIREVO Appoints Industry Expert Dr. Prante to the Advisory Board

DIREVO Industrial Biotechnology GmbH (DIREVO) announced today the appointment of Dr. Gerhard Prante as new member of the DIREVO Advisory Board. Dr. Prante is the former CEO of AgreEvo / Aventis CropScience and an expert in the agrochemical industry.

Dr. Prante started his career with Hoechst AG where he became Head of the Agricultural Division. From 1994 to 1999 he was CEO of AgrEvo GmbH, a multibillion dollar player of the crop protection industry, and in 2001 he became Head of Aventis Divestiture Project Team for Aventis CropScience. Dr. Prante had been a strong proponent for the integration of biotechnology into the agribusiness. In 1996 he spearheaded the 0.7 billion $ acquisition of Plant Genetic Systems by Agrevo. Since 2002, he has been an active consultant to the industry. Dr. Prante is currently a member of the Supervisory Boards at Bayer CropScience AG, AllessaChemie GmbH, Lincoln International AG and Gerresheimer AG.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Prante as a new board member and we are certain that his expert knowledge in the field of agro business will be very beneficial for DIREVO’s future development,” said Dr. Karl-Gerhard Seifert, Chairman of the DIREVO Board of Directors. “At the same time I would like to use this opportunity to thank Dr. Kjærgaard for his commitment to DIREVO and his invaluable contributions to the Company's development in the past years.”

Since 2010, DIREVO’s Advisory Board is chaired by Dr. Karl-Gerhard Seifert. He held various responsibilities on the Hoechst AG Board including leading the pharmacy division and later the spin-out Celanase. His colleagues on the board are Stefan Fischer from TVM Capital, Prof. Dr. Heinrich M. Schulte from Wölbern Invest KG, Dr. Alfred Oberholz, the former CTO of Evonik and Dr. Aristotelis Nastos from NRW BANK Düsseldorf. Dr. Leif Kjærgaard will now be stepping down from the DIREVO Board.



About DIREVO Industrial Biotechnology GmbH

DIREVO Industrial Biotechnology GmbH (“DIREVO”) is a biotechnology company with a focus on the biomass conversion industry. Direvo identifies bottlenecks and weaknesses in current industrial processes in this sector and develops and implements biology-based solutions together with large and small industrial partners. Initially a business unit of DIREVO Biotech AG, it became an independent company in 2008 in the course of the sale of DIREVO Biotech AG to Bayer Healthcare AG. From the sourcing of biological diversity through our efficient biocatalyst optimization platform to our established process development capabilities, we cover full technology development cycles in all areas of biomass conversion.

Our products are newly designed enzymes and microorganisms of the highest quality that provide easy-to-implement, cost-effective solutions. Our contribution assures that our partners stay competitive and profitable while we add to their ability to make the future cleaner, greener and safer. Initial products from DIREVO´s enzyme optimization facility are already gone in the market. DIREVO’s multi-parameter optimized Phytase (in collaboration with Genencor) and Mannanase (proprietary) are best-in-class products.

DIREVO Industrial Biotechnology GmbH is privately owned and located in Cologne, Germany.