According to an article in the Palm Beach Post, Dyadic International, based in Jupiter, Florida, made a huge comeback in 2009 when investors saw their stake increase by 1,253 percent during 2009. Dyadic was featured in the newspaper’s best and worst performers of 2009 for companies based in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties Florida. In the biofuels space, Dyadic is best known for its enzymes that are used to convert biomass to glucose.

Last year, the company announced a licensing agreement with Abengoa Bioenergy to sell its patented C1 Technology Platform for the large-scale production of enzymes for use in manufacturing biofuels. They also announced a multi-million licensing agreement with Codexis, Inc in November.

Dyadic Founder and CEO Mark Emalfarb. Photo from TCPalm.com.

However, these recent successes did not come without hardship. As reported by the news media, in 2007 company founder, chief executive and largest shareholder, Mark Emalfarb, was forced out. Emalfarb once again took the company helm in 2008, although the outlook was much starker. During his absence, the stock price nearly dissapated and the shares were dropped from the American Stock Exhange and relegated to the Pink Sheets. But akin to the American success story, Emalfarb turned his company around with several big deals in 2009 and now they are poised as a leader going into 2010.

“With all the clouds lifted, people are seeing the sky very clearly — and it’s blue,” Emalfarb said in the Palm Beach Post. “Shareholders recognize the incredible, miraculous recovery we’ve made, and they’re rewarding us. We obviously are drinking our Kool-Aid.”