In 1925, the brothers
Harald and
Thorvald Pedersen founded Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium and Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium with the aim to produce
insulin. In 1941 the company's predecessor launched its first enzyme,
trypsin, extracted from the
pancreas of animals and used to soften leather, and was the first to produce enzymes by
fermentation using bacteria in the 1950s. In the late 1980s Novozymes presented the world's first
fat-splitting enzyme for
detergents manufactured with
genetically engineered microorganisms, called
Lipolase. The current Novozymes was founded in 2000 as a spinout from pharmaceutical company
Novo Nordisk. 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. On 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. The merger between Novozymes and Chr. Hansen was finalized on 29 January 2024 after receiving all final approvals from the
Danish Business Authority. ==Ownership==