Verenium Appoints John F. Dee to Board of Directors

Verenium Appoints John F. Dee to Board of Directors
PR Newswire
May 12, 2008: 04:01 PM EST

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -. Verenium Corporation (Nasdaq: VRNM), a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, today announced the appointment of John F. Dee to its Board of Directors. The Company also announced that Geoffrey Hazlewood, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Research, has resigned for personal reasons effective May 31, 2008 and will be returning to his native England. Dr. Hazlewood will remain as an exclusive consultant to the Company and will also join its scientific advisory board, enabling him to play an ongoing role in bringing many of Verenium’s important research projects to a successful conclusion.

“We are very pleased that John has joined the Verenium Board, as his extensive executive-level experience working with emerging-growth companies in strategic, financial and operational development will contribute valuable perspective while the Company rapidly accelerates into a commercial-scale producer of next-generation biofuels,” said Carlos A. Riva, President and Chief Executive Officer at Verenium. “I’d also like to thank Geoff Hazlewood for his many years of significant service and contributions to Verenium and look forward to his continuing involvement.”

Mr. Dee served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Hypnion, Inc., a privately-held neurosciences drug discovery company, from its founding in July 2000 through its $315 million acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company in April 2007. Before Hypnion, Mr. Dee spent three years as a “turn- around” CEO, specializing in reviving under-performing biotechnology companies including Genta, Inc. Prior to his move into biotechnology, Mr. Dee spent several years as a senior management consultant at McKinsey & Co., Inc., an international management consulting firm, where he led teams of senior executives in the development and implementation of new strategic directives and performance improvements.

Mr. Dee currently sits on the Board of Directors for NeuroPhage Inc., a pioneering neuroscience company focused on Alzheimer’s, and BioProcessors Corporation, a privately-held company that develops innovative biomanufacturing workflow methods and technologies for biopharmaceutical companies around the world. Mr. Dee holds an M.S. in Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.

About Verenium

Verenium Corporation is a leader in the development and commercialization of next-generation cellulosic ethanol, an environmentally-friendly and renewable transportation fuel, as well as high-performance specialty enzymes for applications within the alternative fuels, specialty industrial processes, and animal nutrition and health markets. The Company possesses integrated, end-to-end capabilities in pre-treatment, novel enzyme development, fermentation, engineering, and project development and is moving rapidly to commercialize its proprietary technology for the production of ethanol from a wide array of cellulosic feedstocks, including sugarcane bagasse, dedicated energy crops, agricultural waste, and wood products. In addition to the vast potential for biofuels, a multitude of large-scale industrial opportunities exist for the Company for products derived from the production of low-cost, biomass-derived sugars. Verenium’s Specialty Enzyme business harnesses the power of enzymes to create a broad range of specialty products to meet high-value commercial needs. Verenium’s world class R&D organization is renowned for its capabilities in the rapid screening, identification, and expression of enzymes-proteins that act as the catalysts of biochemical reactions.

Verenium operates one of the nation’s first cellulosic ethanol pilot plants, an R&D facility, in Jennings, Louisiana and has entered the start-up phase at its 1.4 million gallon-per-year demonstration-scale facility. In addition, the Company’s process technology has been licensed by Tokyo-based Marubeni Corp. and Tsukishima Kikai Co., Ltd. and has been incorporated into BioEthanol Japan’s 1.4 million liter-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant in Osaka, Japan — the world’s first commercial-scale plant to produce cellulosic ethanol from wood construction waste. For more information, visit http://www.verenium.com.