Sep. 2, 2009 (PR Newswire) -- CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Verenium Corporation (Nasdaq: VRNM), a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, today reported that at the Company's annual meeting of stockholders held on Tuesday, September 1st in Cambridge, MA, each of the following proposals were approved:

    --  Election of the three (3) directors - Dr. James H. Cavanaugh, Mr. Simon
Rich, and Mr. Joshua Ruch - to hold office until the 2012 Annual Meeting
of Stockholders;
--  Approval to effect a reverse stock split at any exchange ratio from
1-for-12 to 1-for-20;
--  Approval of a stock option exchange program; and

--  Ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the
Company's independent registered public accounting firm for the
fiscal year ending December 31, 2009.

In addition, the Company's Board of Directors today approved a 1-for-12 reverse stock split of the Company's common stock and set September 2, 2009 as the record date for the reverse split. The 1-for-12 reverse stock split will automatically convert 12 shares of the Company's common stock into one share of common stock. The reverse stock split will reduce the number of shares of the Company's common stock outstanding from approximately 111.3 million as of the filing of the Company's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, to approximately 9.3 million shares, and will also affect all issued and outstanding shares of the Company's common stock, and shares of common stock underlying stock options and warrants that are outstanding immediately prior to the effective date of the reverse stock split. Cash will be paid in lieu of any fractional shares resulting from the reverse stock split.

"We are pleased with the results of our annual meeting and thank our shareholders for their continued support," said Carlos A. Riva, President and Chief Executive Officer at Verenium. "Verenium has undergone substantial changes over the past year and with well over 100 million shares currently outstanding, we believe a reverse stock split is an important and necessary change in our financial structure."

"Additionally, we believe that the reverse stock split is a necessary step to ensure our continued compliance with NASDAQ listing requirements and could also allow us to attract a broader range of eligible investors to our story," added James E. Levine, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Verenium.

Approximately 83% of outstanding shares entitled to vote were represented at the meeting.