Novozymes A/S was a global

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

company headquartered in Bagsværd, outside of Copenhagen,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The company's focus was the research, development and production of industrial enzymes,

microorganisms A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from antiquity, with an early attestation in ...

, and

biopharmaceutical A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...

ingredients. The company merged with Chr. Hansen to form Novonesis in January 2024. Prior to the merger, the company had operations around the world, including in China, India, Brazil, Argentina, United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Class B shares of its stock were listed on the NASDAQ OMX Nordic exchange.

History

In 1925, the brothers Harald and Thorvald Pedersen founded Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium and Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium with the aim to produce

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...

. In 1941 the company's predecessor launched its first enzyme,

trypsin Trypsin is an enzyme in the first section of the small intestine that starts the digestion of protein molecules by cutting long chains of amino acids into smaller pieces. It is a serine protease from the PA clan superfamily, found in the dig ...

, extracted from the

pancreas The pancreas (plural pancreases, or pancreata) is an Organ (anatomy), organ of the Digestion, digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdominal cavity, abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a ...

of animals and used to soften leather, and was the first to produce enzymes by

fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...

using bacteria in the 1950s.Novozyme
Novozymes' history
Page accessed August 31, 2014 In the late 1980s Novozymes presented the world's first fat-splitting enzyme for

detergent A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with Cleanliness, cleansing properties when in Concentration, dilute Solution (chemistry), solutions. There are a large variety of detergents. A common family is the alkylbenzene sulfonate ...

s manufactured with genetically engineered microorganisms, called ''Lipolase''. The current Novozymes was founded in 2000 as a spinout from pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. In the 2000s Novozymes expanded through the acquisition of several companies focusing on business outside the core enzyme business. Amongst them were the Brazilian bio agricultural company Turfal and German pharmaceutical, chemical and life science company EMD/Merck Crop BioScience Inc. These acquisitions made Novozymes a leader in sustainable solutions for the agricultural biological industry. In January 2016, the company spun out its biopharmaceutical operations into Albumedix. In June 2020, the business announced it would acquire Ireland-based PrecisionBiotics for $90 million. In December of the same year Novozymes announced it would acquire Microbiome Labs in a $125 million deal. In 12 December 2023, it was announced that Novozymes and Danish bioscience company Chr. Hansen had obtained regulatory approval for a merger, and on the following day, the name of the combined company was revealed as Novonesis.

Ownership

The Novozymes class A share capital is held by Novo Holdings A/S, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. In addition, Novo A/S holds 5,826,280 B shares, which overall gives Novo A/S 25.5% of the total share capital and 70.1% of the votes.

References

External links

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Forbes Magazine: "100 Corporations That Will Survive 100 Years" (January 28, 2009)
{{Authority control Companies listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen Biotechnology companies of Denmark Life science companies based in Copenhagen Companies based in Gladsaxe Municipality Pharmaceutical companies established in 1925 Danish companies established in 2000 Danish brands Biotechnology companies established in 1925 Yeast banks Companies in the OMX Copenhagen 25 Companies in the S&P Europe 350 Dividend Aristocrats