Company profile

Novozymes’ biological solutions help our customers make more from less. We are the world leader in bioinnovation, producing a wide range of industrial enzymes, microorganisms, and biopharmaceutical ingredients.

A growing population is putting increasing pressure on the world’s natural resources, and innovation is required if we are to continue to meet our basic needs. Novozymes’ solutions are part of the answer. Used in the manufacture of numerous products, they improve the efficiency of industrial processes by saving energy and raw materials and reducing waste. The result is higher quality, lower costs, and improved environmental performance for our customers.

In 2011 alone, the worldwide application of our products helped our customers reduce their CO₂ emissions by an estimated 45 million tons, supporting our shared ambition to drive sustainability around the world.

World leader in industrial enzymes

The development, production, distribution, and sale of industrial enzymes is our largest business segment, Enzyme Business, which accounted for 90% of total sales in 2011. BioBusiness, which accounted for the remaining 10%, is home to our microorganisms and biopharmaceutical ingredients.

We are constantly striving to expand our markets by introducing innovations in existing markets and developing new applications. With a 47% share of the global enzyme market, we retained our position as the world’s largest and leading producer of industrial enzymes in 2011, generating total sales of DKK 10,510 million and EBIT of DKK 2,340 million.

Sustainability is integrated

Due to the nature of our technology, sustainability is an integral part of our offering to customers. This has become a competitive advantage as more customers look to use sustainability as a differentiator.

We aim to be a transparent and responsible business where sustainability is an integral part of the way we operate. Our vision is to create the necessary balance between better business, cleaner environment, and better lives. We identify issues and challenges of relevance to our stakeholders and our business through dialogue and commitment to international agreements and universal values. For example, we subscribe to the UN Global Compact and support the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to help steer the global agenda toward a more sustainable world.

Rethink Tomorrow

We use our expertise and biotechnology to develop new sustainable solutions, often in partnership with our customers. More than 20% of Novozymes’ global workforce is engaged in research and development, and we invest around 14% of sales in research and development worldwide. The company has a global presence with close to 6,000 employees on six continents.  

Our solutions are based on a unique industrial biotechnology platform that provides a wealth of opportunities for the world’s industries. Microbiology, high-throughput screening, protein engineering, and fermentation technology are some of the tools on which we base our business. Combining industrial insight with this technology platform, we partner with customers across a broad range of industries to create tomorrow’s industrial biosolutions. We currently hold almost 7,000 granted or pending patents, which is an indication of the possibilities that emerge when nature and technology join forces.

More than 700 products and 40 end markets globally

Novozymes sells products all over the world and serves a broad variety of industries, such as household care, bioenergy, food and beverages, agriculture, biopharmaceuticals, wastewater, textiles, pulp and paper, and leather.

Enzymes for the household care industry are widely used in laundry and dishwashing detergents, and account for a large part of Novozymes’ sales. Our solutions improve the performance of detergents by enabling improved stain removal, garment care, and general wash performance. Enzymes can replace petrochemical-derived ingredients, and their unique catalytic action makes enzymes particularly useful ingredients in low-temperature and concentrated detergents.

One of Novozymes’ largest focus areas is enzymes that can turn starch (primarily corn) and cellulose into fermentable sugars for the biofuel industry. Biofuels are an important step toward meeting the growing demand for renewable fuel.

Enzymes are also used extensively in the food and beverage industry to enhance the quality of, for example, bread, beer, and wine, and in the feed industry to increase the digestibility and nutritional value of animal feed.

In addition, Novozymes supplies a range of microorganisms for industrial use in the cleaning, wastewater, and agricultural markets, while our biopharma business focuses on improving medical devices as well as drug delivery and formulation using our unique recombinant albumin and hyaluronic acid technologies.