Verenium Appoints James E. Levine Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Verenium Appoints James E. Levine Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer

- Experienced investment banker with broad financing experience in the energy
sector -

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Verenium Corporation
(Nasdaq: VRNM), a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic
ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, today announced the
appointment of James (Jamie) E. Levine to the position of Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer. Levine will report directly to Carlos
A. Riva, Verenium's President and Chief Executive Officer.

"As we advance to the commercial stage of our development Jamie will play a
critical role in identifying and securing the necessary financing for
individual projects and in building a healthy capital structure for the
company," said Carlos A. Riva, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Verenium. "His extensive experience in corporate and project finance, as well
as in other advisory and investment banking activities within the energy
industry, will be important assets as we continue building Verenium into a
leading next-generation biofuels company. I would also like to thank Jeff
Black for his stewardship as acting CFO and others on the senior team for
their leadership these last few months," he added.

Prior to joining Verenium, Levine held various positions with Goldman Sachs &
Co., most recently as a Managing Director in the Power and Utilities Group in
New York. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director in the Energy Group in
London. The majority of his tenure at Goldman Sachs & Co. centered on
investment banking in the oil and gas industries, with a particular focus on
the refining and marketing sectors. Levine previously held positions with
Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc., and Industrial Economics, Inc.

Levine received a B.A. in Economics from Brandeis University and an M.B.A.
with a concentration in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania.

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 animal health markets. The Company possesses
integrated, end-to-end capabilities and cutting-edge technology in
pre-treatment, novel enzyme development, fermentation and project development
for next-generation biofuels. Through a joint venture with BP, the Company is
moving rapidly to commercialize its proprietary technology for the production
of ethanol from a wide array of non-food feedstocks, including 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.

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 laws
and regulations applicable to them, 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 annual report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 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, Corporate Sr. Corporate Communications
Communications Associate
617-674-5335 617-674-5357
kelly.lindenboom@verenium.com sarah.carmody@verenium.com

SOURCE Verenium Corporation

Kelly Lindenboom, Vice President, Corporate Communications, +1-617-674-5335,
kelly.lindenboom@verenium.com, or Sarah Carmody, Sr. Corporate Communications
Associate, +1-617-674-5357, sarah.carmody@verenium.com, both of Verenium
Corporation