November 22, 2011: 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.