BRAIN Biotech AG announces the appointment of Erik de Vries as Senior Business Development Director Enzymes

29 May 2024, Zwingenberg (Germany) - BRAIN Biotech AG and Enzymicals AG are pleased to announce that Dr. Erik de Vries will join BRAIN Biotech as Senior Business Development Director Enzymes as of June 1st, 2024. De Vries will continue in his current position as CEO of Enzymicals AG on a part-time basis during a transition phase until the end of the year. During this transition phase, his activities will already focus on BRAIN Biotech at the Zwingenberg site. A succession plan is being implemented. A new CEO will take over the duties from Erik de Vries from January 1st, 2025.

Following the handover of the CEO position at Enzymicals, it is planned to have Erik de Vries appointed to the Supervisory Board of Enzymicals AG as a representative of BRAIN Biotech AG at the 2025 Annual General Meeting. This is to ensure that he can continue to support Enzymicals’ growth strategy with his knowledge and expertise, serving the interests of both Enzymicals AG as well as BRAIN Biotech AG as one of Enzymicals' shareholders.

Prof. Dr. Uwe Bornscheuer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Enzymicals AG, states: “Erik de Vries has done an excellent job since he started in early 2022 as a CEO of Enzymicals as reflected in the record revenues and numerous new projects being under way. At the Supervisory Board, we are very grateful for his valuable input thanks to his decades long experience in biocatalysis and business development. I am confident that Enzymicals will continue along this path in the future and very much look forward to having Erik de Vries on the Board from 2025.”

“Enzymicals has come out of the Covid crisis really well over the past years”, says Erik de Vries and continues: “We have seen record revenue coming in in 2022 and 2023 and also this year is already tracking towards achieving a new record revenue. We see a healthy expansion in the customer base as well as a deepening of existing business relationships. This is proof that Enzymicals has earned its place in the market. As Senior Director Business Development at BRAIN Biotech, I will use my expertise to increase revenues, but I will certainly also be on the lookout for synergies between our two companies.”

Dr. Martin Langer, Managing Director & Executive Vice President at BRAIN Biotech AG welcomes Erik de Vries to the BRAIN Biotech family: “Erik is very well connected in the enzyme world and deeply understands the benefits of using our proprietary technology packages such as highly sophisticated microbial production strains, genome editing tools, as well as the easy access to novel enzymes through the metagenome libraries. With his deep insight in markets such as pharma, food, feed and beverages and the knowledge about the needs of the players in these markets, he is the right person and a perfect fit to support the business development team of BRAIN Biotech in Zwingenberg. I am looking forward working together with Erik with the goals to deepen the synergies between Enzymicals and BRAIN and to further grow BRAIN Biotech´s tailor made solutions business.”

About Erik de Vries

Erik de Vries has studied Organic Chemistry at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands. After obtaining his PhD at the same university in 1997 and during 8 years of postdoc, he started his own spin-off company involved in enzymatic technology. After a successful sale of the company to Codexis Inc, he moved to California to work at Codexis in various functions with increasing responsibility. After Codexis, Erik was Technical Sales Manager for the Americas for the LifeTech™ line of resins at Purolite, Regional Sales Manager North America at the strain engineering company Amyris and then West Coast Business Development Manager at the Swiss pharma contract manufacturer Dottikon Exclusive Synthesis AG. After moving back to his home base in The Netherlands, Erik started his own biotechnology consulting company and has been involved worldwide in the early stages of numerous biotech and deep tech start-up initiatives. Erik currently is the CEO of Enzymicals AG as well as a member of the (Technical) Advisory Boards of FabricNano Ltd (London, UK) and of Allozymes Pte Ltd (Singapore). Erik has a large network of connections in the biotech, renewable chemicals, cosmetic ingredients and pharmaceuticals areas.

^{About BRAIN}

^{BRAIN Biotech AG is a leading European supplier of bio-based products and solutions such as enzymes and proteins, microbial production strains, natural compounds and biotechnological solutions for more sustainable industrial processes. The company focuses on the fields of nutrition, health and environment.}

^{BRAIN Biotech AG is the parent company of the international BRAIN Biotech Group. The Group's business activities are divided into three segments: The BioProducts segment comprises the product business with specialty enzymes and other proteins, for which the Group operates fermentation facilities in the United Kingdom and production facilities in continental Europe and the United States. The BioScience segment offers research-intensive custom solutions based on enzyme technology, strain development, bioprocess development and natural product screening. The BioIncubator segment conducts its own R&D projects or those initiated with partners with high value-added potential. A particularly promising incubator project is the development of the Company's own CRISPR-based gene editing technology platform, which is currently being established and expanded by Akribion Genomics (in foundation planning).}

^{Through its own R&D activities, BRAIN Biotech Group is continuously expanding its product portfolio in the field of specialty enzymes and small molecules. The latter are the starting point for screenings, e.g. for novel drug candidates for pharmaceutical applications.}

^{BRAIN Biotech AG has been listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since February 9, 2016 (ticker symbol: BNN; securities identification number: ISIN DE0005203947 / WKN 520394). The company employs approximately 330 people and generated revenues of EUR 55,3 million in the fiscal year 2022/23.}

^{About Enzymicals}

^{Enzymicals is your experienced partner for industrial biocatalysis from mg to ton-scale with 15 years of experience. Enzymicals’ experts offer their recognized expertise in the use of enzymatic processes for complex chemical synthesis, from initial catalyst-lead finding to process optimization and scale-up. Combining many years of experience in biotechnology with state-of-the art facilities, our company has success stories with many partners from diverse industries speeding up their developments.}

^Disclaimer

^{This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements reflect the current views, expectations, and assumptions of the management of BRAIN Biotech AG, and are based on information currently available to the management.}

^{Forward-looking statements are no guarantees of future performance, and entail both known and unknown risks as well as uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Numerous factors exist that could influence the future performance of and future developments at BRAIN Biotech AG and the BRAIN Biotech Group. Such factors include, but are not limited to, changes in the general economic and competitive environment, risks associated with capital markets, currency exchange rate fluctuations, changes in international and national laws and regulations, in particular with respect to tax laws and regulations, as well as other factors.}

^{BRAIN Biotech AG does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.}

Note: Collective designations such as employees, shareholders, customers or consumers used in this press release are to be regarded as gender-neutral.