Verenium and Scion Awarded Grant From New Zealand's Foundation for Research, Science and Technology

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Verenium Corporation (NASDAQ: VRNM) , a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, today announced that the Company, together with research partner Scion, have been awarded a three-year, $5.4 million grant from the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology. Funding is expected to start in October and will be used for the next stage of development by the New Zealand Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Initiative, a trans-Pacific research collaboration.

"We are very pleased to be recognized with this award, as we continue to advance our efforts in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol," said Carlos A. Riva, President and Chief Executive Officer at Verenium. "This grant represents an important endorsement of our research collaboration with Scion. Together with our recent awards from the U.S. Department of Energy, this grant adds support to our scientific efforts to advance the development of this rapidly-emerging global industry."

This initiative builds from previous collaborative research among Verenium, New Zealand's Crown Research Institutes Scion and AgResearch, and New Zealand's largest pulp and paper producer, Carter Holt Harvey, which recently announced the completion of a study which evaluated the infrastructure, technology and economics of a transportation biofuels facility using New Zealand softwood plantation forests as a potential feedstock. With this award, the collaboration will further evaluate the viability of producing cellulosic ethanol from New Zealand's softwood forest resource through successful pilot-scale trials of existing lab-scale research on pre-treatment and enzymatic processing. Verenium will be bringing their enzyme and fermentation technologies to this program and will be leveraging the Company's existing facilities to accelerate commercialization timelines.

Scion Chief Executive Dr. Tom Richardson said the successful research grant is critical to the continuing assessment of the role that domestically- produced biofuels will play in New Zealand's future energy supply. "New Zealand's aspirations for transport emissions reduction and sustainable economic development can only be achieved if global technology leaders like Verenium, local firms and domestic policy development are brought together. We are pleased that the Foundation has supported this scale-up program and look forward to the evaluations."

About Cellulosic Ethanol

Cellulosic ethanol is a renewable fuel source produced from biomass- derived products such as sugarcane waste (bagasse), switchgrass, rice straw and wood chips. Cellulose, a long-chain polysaccharide found in nearly all plant life, is the most abundant molecule on earth, and, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), its high-oxygen content reduces carbon monoxide better than any other oxygenated chemical compounds.

Next-generation cellulosic ethanol uses advanced biological science to reduce the cost of ethanol production and enable access to a wide variety of biomass. Unlike traditional ethanol manufactured from corn or sugar, cellulosic ethanol production utilizes non-food, plant biomass as its feedstock source. The biomass is first broken down into fermentable sugars using acid or enzymatic hydrolysis and industrial enzymes, after which the sugars are fermented into ethanol using various fermentation organisms. Ethanol produced from cellulosic biomass is believed to have many benefits over first-generation ethanol including, the use of non-food feedstock, substantially greater yield of ethanol per acre of feedstock, minimal exposure to volatile commodity price risks across the production process and a more favorable environmental impact.

The production of cellulosic ethanol in the United States is supported by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which mandates that advanced biofuel production consist of 21 billion gallons by 2022, of which 16 billion gallons must come from cellulosic ethanol.

About Verenium

Verenium Corporation is a leader in the development and commercialization of cellulosic ethanol, an environmentally-friendly and renewable transportation fuel, as well as high-performance specialty enzymes for applications within the biofuels, industrial, and health and nutrition 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 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. For more information on Verenium, visit http://www.verenium.com.

About Scion and the New Zealand Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Initiative

Scion is one of New Zealand's nine Crown Research Institutes (CRI) and is dedicated to building a stronger bio-based economy for New Zealand. Scion's vision is to advance the widespread utilization of renewable materials and products derived from plant-based resources for economic, environmental and social returns.

The New Zealand Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Initiative is a trans-Pacific collaboration between two New Zealand CRIs Scion and AgResearch, New Zealand's largest pulp and paper company Carter Holt Harvey and Verenium. It came together with the objective of addressing the challenges of using pine as a feedstock for bioethanol production. The initiative has been active since May 2006.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-looking" and involve a high degree of risk and uncertainty. These include statements related to the Company's operations, capabilities, commercialization activities, target markets and cellulosic ethanol facilities, all of which are prospective. Such statements are only predictions, and actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to the differences include, but are not limited to, risks associated with Verenium's new and uncertain technologies, risks associated with the costs, labor requirements and labor availability associated with Verenium's demonstration plant, risks associated with Verenium's ability to obtain additional capital to support its planned operations, risks associated with Verenium's dependence on patents and proprietary rights, risks associated with Verenium's protection and enforcement of its patents and proprietary rights, technological, regulatory, competitive and other risks related to development, production, and commercialization of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels and the commercial prospects of those industries, Verenium's dependence on existing collaboration, manufacturing, and/or license agreements, and its ability to achieve milestones under existing and future collaboration agreements, the ability of Verenium and its partners to commercialize products (including by obtaining any required regulatory approvals) using Verenium's technologies and timing for launching any commercialized products, the ability of Verenium and its collaborators to market and sell any products that it or they commercialize, the development or availability of competitive products or technologies, the future ability of Verenium to enter into and/or maintain collaboration and joint venture agreements and licenses, changes in the U.S. or global energy markets and risks and other uncertainties more fully described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2008. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

     Contacts:

     Kelly Lindenboom                       Sarah Carmody
     Vice President,                        Sr. Corporate Communications
     Corporate Communications               Associate
     617-674-5335                           617-674-5357
     kelly.lindenboom@verenium.com          sarah.carmody@verenium.com