Gerhard Mayr to Join Codexis As Advisor to Board
Redwood City, CA - July 26, 2004Codexis Inc, announced today that Gerhard Mayr has been appointed as special advisor to its Board of Directors.
In March 2004, Mr. Mayr retired as executive vice president of pharmaceutical operations at Eli Lilly & Company after 32 years of service. He had been responsible for global pharmaceutical operations and sales and marketing worldwide at Lilly. Mr. Mayr strengthened the US operations and led the global expansion of the company. At a crucial time for the corporation, he helped Lilly overcome the expiration of the patent for its largest product, Prozac® by reinforcing the success of its established products and advancing the introductions of a series of innovative new medicines. Mr. Mayr joined Eli Lilly International as a sales representative in West Germany in 1972. Over the next 14 years, he served in a number of sales, marketing, and general management positions in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. He was promoted to vice president for Europe in 1986. In 1993, Mr. Mayr became the president of Eli Lilly International responsible for pharmaceutical operations in Europe, Central/East Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Four years later, his responsibilities included Asia, Japan, Australia, Latin America, and Canada.
Mr. Mayr currently serves on the board of directors for Bank Austria-Creditanstalt A.G., a member of the board of OMV AG and is on the board of Project Hope. He is also a member of the Vienna Science-Research and Technology Fund, is on the Apax Healthcare Advisory board, a patron of the British Red Cross, and a council member of the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum.
Mr. Mayr is also past chairman of both the International Executive Committee and the European Committee of the Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America. He was a board member of the European Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry from 1995-1997 and 2000-2002. He was a member of the European Advisory Board of Guidant Corporation from 2000-2003, and a member of the Circle of Patrons of INSEAD from 2000-2004. From 1999-2004 he served as a member of the US-Egypt President’s Council, chaired by the presidents of the USA and Egypt.
“We are delighted to welcome Gerhard Mayr, an international leader in pharmaceutical operations and marketing, to our board as special advisor,” said Alan Shaw, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Codexis. “As evidenced by our recently-announced collaboration with Pfizer, Codexis continues to strengthen its position as leader in the application of proprietary protein and strain engineering technologies to create novel process development solutions for efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly pharmaceutical manufacturing. Mr. Mayr’s expertise will be very valuable as we continue to develop our technology and expand our partnership base, particularly in Europe.”
About Codexis, Inc.
Codexis, Inc., a majority owned subsidiary of Maxygen, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAXY), began operations as an independent company in 2002. Codexis provides biocatalysis and fermentation processes and products to the life sciences, chemical and allied industries. Codexis' proprietary MolecularBreeding(tm) directed molecular evolution technology uses biocatalysis and fermentation to enable discovery and development of improved or novel processes for cost-effective synthesis of valuable pharmaceuticals and chemical compounds. Codexis has ten strategic alliances with world leaders in human therapeutics and chemical production, 15 potential products and processes in development internally or with partners, and five processes now operating at commercial scale.
Contact:
Codexis, Inc.
Tassos Gianakakos
Sr. Vice President, Business Development
T. +1-650-298-5423
F. +1-650-298-5449
tassos.gianakakos@codexis.com