Novozymes, the global industrial enzyme producer which employs more than 500 people across the triangle region, is spinning off its biopharma unit as a separate company.

The Denmark-based company also says that falling commodity prices will impact growth. Its products are used in biofuels.

The spin-off of the biopharma unit into a company called Albumedix was announced along with annual earnings by Novozymes early Tuesday.

Novozymes will own the new venture. It is built around albumin, which is used by drug companies as a stabilizer in drugs. Novozymes believes it also has potential as a drug. Albumin is a naturally occurring protein that can be found in human blood.

“Over the past nine years, our work in albumin has resulted in a series of new discoveries and technologies, which have led to agreements with major pharmaceutical and biotech companies,” said Thomas Videbæk, Executive Vice President for Business Development at Novozymes. “The business is in good shape with great prospects to make a real difference for patients all over the world. We believe it is now ready to be developed further outside Novozymes, where it will have the best possible growth conditions.”

The new venture will have some 100 employees and will be based in Denmark and the U.K. where a production plant is located.

Meanwhile, Novozymes disclosed that overall sales increased 4 percent in 2015 while net profit climbed 12 percent. The company projects 3 to 5 percent growth in 2016.

However, dropping commodity prices will hurt, the company said.

“Novozymes maintains its ambition to accelerate sales growth to 8-10% organically. However, as a result of the current depressed commodity prices and the uncertainties these entail for Bioenergy and growth in emerging markets, Novozymes expects annual organic sales growth from 2017 through to the end of the decade to be in line with the historical performance of 6-7%. The long-term targets for EBIT margin, ROIC and sustainability are unchanged,” Novozymes said in a statement.

The firm also plans a stock buyback program this year.

Novozymes announced plans in 2014 to build a new research facility in the Triangle. It also employs more than 500 people at its North American headquarters in Franklinton.