REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Codexis, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, today announced the company has expanded into direct sales of pharmaceutical intermediates with receipt of the first commercial orders from leading generics manufacturers for ATS-8, the key chemical intermediate in atorvastatin. Atorvastatin is the active ingredient in the world’s largest-selling drug for lowering cholesterol. The announcement was made in conjunction with the 2006 CPHI (Convention of Pharmaceutical Ingredients and Intermediates) annual conference in Paris.
ATS-8 will be manufactured through an existing partnership with Arch Pharmalabs, Ltd., a leading Indian chemicals manufacturer, with sales handled by Codexis’ Indian subsidiary, Codexis Laboratories India Private Limited. Additional details were not disclosed.
“These initial commercial orders further Codexis’ strategy of developing our own products for direct sale to the $50 billion generics market, creating an important growth opportunity for the company. Receipt of the first commercial orders demonstrates our ability to transition from a platform technology company into a products company,” said Alan Shaw, Ph.D., Codexis President and Chief Executive Officer.
“ATS-8 heads a deep pipeline of pharmaceutical generics in high growth markets with significant gross margins. Our generics portfolio will include intermediates and APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) for infectious disease, cardiovascular and CNS indications, with expansion planned to a number of other therapeutic categories. This builds on our established track record of developing value-added processes for human therapeutics manufacturing through application of our proprietary Smart Synth(TM) integrated chemical process development technology,” Dr. Shaw added.
Technology Background
The company’s unique platforms, including Smart Synth(TM) integrated chemical process development and WG Shuffling(TM) strain engineering technology, create superior biological catalysts (biocatalysts) -- either enzymes or fermentation strains -- crafted specifically for cutting-edge chemical processes that can enable pharmaceutical process development, shorten process development timelines, dramatically improve existing manufacturing processes and increase chemical development productivity. Codexis estimates that its platform technologies can reduce cost of goods by 40 to 70 percent and capital expenditures by over 35 percent. In addition, this platform technology can create new intellectual property opportunities, which can help extend the lifetime of drug products.
Codexis’ platform technology begins with the selection of genes or genomes with DNA sequence diversity. These gene or genomic variants are then subjected to a proprietary technique that recombines, or “shuffles,” the DNA. The resulting library encoding for novel biocatalysts is screened for those possessing desirable and improved properties. This process is repeated several times until the resulting enzymes or strains meet or exceed the target performance.
About Codexis, Inc.
Codexis is a privately held biotechnology company applying proprietary synthetic chemistry technologies to create improved versions of small molecule therapeutics. Codexis’ technology enables novel process development solutions for efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly pharmaceutical manufacturing. Application of the company’s proprietary protein and strain engineering platform can also generate new intellectual property opportunities for pharmaceutical manufacturers, which may extend the drug product lifecycle. Codexis has approximately 15 strategic alliances, and the company’s technology is being applied to the development of more than 20 therapeutic products worldwide. Codexis, Inc. began operations as an independent company in 2002. Codexis is a registered trademark of Codexis, Inc. For more information see www.codexis.com .
Contact: CPHI and European Media Richard Kerns Cell: +44 797 4579202 Office: +44 161 7285880 richard@nepr.fsbusiness.co.uk Other Media Justin Jackson Burns McClellan 212-213-0006 jjackson@burnsmc.com Tricia Morsch Burns McClellan 212-213-0006 tmorsch@burnsmc.com Lyn Christenson Codexis Corporate Communications 650-298-5368 lyn.christenson@codexis.com
Codexis, Inc.
CONTACT: CPHI and European Media, Richard Kerns, cell, +44 797 4579202, oroffice, +44 161 7285880, or richard@nepr.fsbusiness.co.uk; or other media,Justin Jackson, jjackson@burnsmc.com, or Tricia Morsch,tmorsch@burnsmc.com, both of Burns McClellan, +1-212-213-0006, for Codexis,Inc.; or Lyn Christenson, of Codexis Corporate Communications,+1-650-298-5368, or lyn.christenson@codexis.com
Web site: http://www.codexis.com/
