Fees to borrow Nasdaq-listed Solazyme have spiked amid a company name change and shift in focus.

The firm is switching from fuels and industrial businesses to selling algae oil to foods and health sciences industries. 

As a result, hedge funds have been lining up to stake a short positions by borrowing its stock.

Shares in the company have fallen 15% since the start of the year and 46% since April 2015. 

“There has been strong demand for Solazyme as many of their competitors have gone out of business trying to compete against oil,” said a recent blog post by equity lending specialists at Brown Brothers Harriman. 

Solazyme, whose major shareholders include Vanguard and BlackRock, will soon be known as TerraVia and focus on food products and specialty ingredients. 

The shift in focus is based on the promise of higher margins, despite lower volume when compared with their failing algae based biofuel business.

It follows a shake-up in management, with the chief exec and co-founder moving to chairman of the board and the company bringing in a new boss.

Solazyme recently announced a $200m, 5-year deal with Unilever in which they will supply the latter with renewable algae used in personal care products.