Direvo

Direvo was a German biotechnology company specializing in protein engineering and directed evolution. Founded in 2000 as a spin-off from Evotec, the company developed a high-throughput screening platform to optimize biopharmaceuticals, industrial enzymes, and biocatalysts. In 2008, its biopharmaceutical division, Direvo Biotech AG, was acquired by Bayer HealthCare for €210 million to bolster Bayer's biologicals portfolio. Simultaneously, its industrial biotechnology unit was spun out as Direvo Industrial Biotechnology GmbH, which focused on enzymes for the food, feed, and biorefinery sectors. The company's technology platform was used to discover and optimize novel first-generation and improved second-generation therapeutics, particularly antibodies and proteases. Although the industrial unit continued independently for several years, it eventually entered liquidation in 2021.