Codexis

Codexis, Inc.
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: CDXS
Russell 2000 Component
IndustryProtein engineering, biocatalysis, industrial enzymes, fine chemicals
Founded2002; 23 years ago (2002)
HeadquartersRedwood City, California, U.S.
Key people
RevenueIncrease US$68.5 million (FY 2019)
Number of employees
165 (as of April 2020)[1]
Websitecodexis.com

Codexis, Inc. is a protein engineering company that develops enzymes for pharmaceutical, food and medical applications.[2][3]

History

Codexis is based in Redwood City, CA and was incorporated in 2002. It went public in April 2010 on NASDAQ,[4] and in October, acquired Maxygen's MolecularBreeding technology portfolio.[5]

Pharmaceutical

Codexis won the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2006 for its work on a building block of Lipitor.[6] It then won a second time in 2010 for its work with Merck & Co. on the active ingredient in Januvia.[7]

Nutrition

In 2017, the company entered a partnership with Tate & Lyle to provide research and development for the production of new ingredients.[8] That same year, Codexis announced a collaboration with Nestle to provide enzymes for metabolic disorders.[9]

Biotherapeutics

In 2017, Codexis developed a recombinant phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) enzyme, to act as a substitute phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) enzyme for people who suffer from phenylketonuria.[3] The enzyme was in-licensed by Nestle Health Sciences.[3]

In 2020, Takeda Pharmaceutical announced a collaboration with Codexis to research and create gene therapies for rare diseases, including lysosomal storage disorders.[10]

Life science

In June 2020, they announced a partnership with Molecular Assemblies to engineer enzymes for DNA synthesis.[11]

Technology

Codexis uses directed evolution to develop its enzymes.[12][13] Using this method, scientists genetically engineer genes, then screen the enzymes produced to see if it creates the properties needed for a specific reaction.[13][7] Their protein engineering platform, called CodeEvolver, uses machine learning and high-throughput experimentation to learn protein sequence changes and their impacts on protein function.[3][14]

References

  1. ^ "Codexis Overview". Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  2. ^ "Codexis, Molecular Assemblies Ink Enzyme Engineering Collaboration Agreement". GenomeWeb. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  3. ^ a b c d Hyde, Embriette (2019-09-04). "Engineering the future of biotherapeutics". SynBioBeta. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  4. ^ Gelsi, Steve. "Codexis IPO blossoms on Earth Day". MarketWatch. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  5. ^ "License Agreement - Maxygen, Inc". www.sec.gov.
  6. ^ "Codexis, Inc.:News Release". Archived from the original on 10 July 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Greener approach to Januvia cuts costs, ups yield". Reuters. 17 June 2010 – via www.reuters.com.
  8. ^ foodnavigator.com. "Tate & Lyle announce multiyear partnership with Codexis". foodnavigator.com. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  9. ^ Mullin, Rick (2017-11-13). "BASF readies a medical food product". Chemical & Engineering News. Archived from the original on 2019-08-04. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  10. ^ "Codexis and Takeda partner on gene therapies for rare diseases". www.pharmaceutical-technology.com. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  11. ^ "Codexis, Molecular Assemblies Ink Enzyme Engineering Collaboration Agreement". Genomeweb. 2020-06-23. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  12. ^ says, Jerry Jeff (2010-10-27). "Xconomy: Codexis Morphs From Big Science Project Into $100M Business". Xconomy. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  13. ^ a b says, Jerry Jeff (2010-10-27). "Xconomy: Codexis Morphs From Big Science Project Into $100M Business". Xconomy. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  14. ^ "Patenting Considerations for Artificial Intelligence in Biotech and Synthetic Biology". JD Supra.