A large proportion of Novozymes' turnover is derived from sales of new products and concepts. New products and concepts are defined as "new" when launched within the past 60 months. In 1999, sales of new products and concepts accounted for around 17% of total sales; in 2005 this number was close to 30%. A dedicated effort in research and development is expected to ensure that this level can be sustained.
Novozymes' R&D organisation consists of more than 750 people in Denmark, Sweden, the US, China and Japan who work on projects in discovery, development and application of new and improved enzymes and microorganisms as well as the continued optimisation of the production.
Additionally, Novozymes has specific and well-defined research and development programmes besides enzymes and microorganisms for industrial use, i.e. in biopolymers and pharma proteins. In biopolymers, hyaluronic acid was launched in 2004 and in pharma proteins, programmes concentrate on antimicrobial peptides, manufacturing biopharmaceuticals and cell-culture protein technologies, etc.
Novozymes has around 100 individual projects at various stages in the research & development pipeline, around 30 late-stage and around 70 early-stage projects. Before being moved into the last development phase, new product candidates undergo both a discovery and new-lead phase where the properties as well as the technical and economic feasibility of the product are evaluated.
Novozymes assesses the financial potential of each project, the likely net present value (NPV), by using a proprietary financial valuation model.
The slide below contains selected projects from the research & development portfolio:
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(It should be noted that the content of the research & development pipeline is affected by launches made recently, e.g. an industry having launched new products in one year will normally be underrepresented the following years).
(Last updated: 07/03/2006)