Codexis, Inc. Appoints Jim Lalonde, Head of Biocatalysis and Chemical Development
Redwood City, CA - July 6, 2004Codexis announced today the addition of James Lalonde, Ph.D. to the position of Head of Biocatalysis and Chemical Development. Dr. Lalonde will oversee Codexis’ research and development activities directed at the application of customized biocatalysts, generated through its proprietary MolecularBreeding™ directed molecular evolution platform, for the production of high-value pharmaceutical chemicals.
Dr. Lalonde was one of the founding scientists at Altus Biologics, holding a variety of scientific leadership positions at the company since 1993, most recently as Director of Biocatalysis and Chemical Development. Altus Biologics was spun out of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in 1993 to develop and commercialize the company’s proprietary protein crystallization and cross-linking technology for biocatalytic applications. Dr. Lalonde led a group of organic chemists, microbiologists, and engineers responsible for the development and implementation of biocatalytic organic synthetic processes for small molecule drug synthesis. During his tenure at Altus, he devised, developed and scaled up numerous biocatalytic manufacturing processes in pilot and manufacturing plants in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Before joining Altus, Dr. Lalonde was a Senior Research Chemist at Vista Chemical Co. involved in new product development. Dr. Lalonde, began his career in the field of enzymes in organic synthesis at Texas A&M University, where he did post-doctoral research with Professor Chi-Huey Wong in the late 1980's. Dr. Lalonde received a HBSc. in Chemistry from Lakehead University and was awarded a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Texas A&M University.
"Codexis' technologies provide proven means to efficiently evolve, from natural enzymes, new biocatalysts adapted to enable new practical and economic chemical processes", said Dr. Lalonde. "Codexis has changed the paradigm for the development of biocatalytic chemical processes. No longer does the process need to be designed around a suboptimal biocatalyst from nature, if one can even be found. Codexis can rapidly evolve the biocatalyst required to enable the desired optimal process. I am excited about joining Codexis in applying this powerful technology to develop new biocatalytic processes for the pharmaceutical industry."
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Jim to Codexis,” said John Grate, PhD., Codexis’ Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Technology Officer. “Jim brings a wealth of expertise and experience in the application of biocatalysts to pharmaceutical chemical synthesis. He is among the leaders in the industry in developing and commercializing biocatalytic processes. We look forward to his forthcoming contributions, as a technologist and a key member of our R&D management team, to Codexis' further successes developing and commercializing proprietary biocatalysts and processes.”
About Codexis, Inc.
Codexis, Inc., a majority owned subsidiary of Maxygen, Inc., is a provider of biocatalysis and fermentation processes and products to the life science and fine chemical industries. Codexis’ proprietary MolecularBreeding™ directed evolution platform allows for the rapid discovery and development of improved or novel processes for the efficient and cost-effective synthesis of valuable chemicals utilizing breakthrough biocatalysts and production strains. Codexis has entered into ten strategic alliances in the chemicals field, and has over 15 potential products and processes in its R&D pipeline with two product candidates in development. In addition, Codexis has five processes now operating at commercial scale, each generating royalty payments. Codexis commenced operations as an independent company in October 2002. MolecularBreeding and Maxygen are trademarks of Maxygen, Inc. Codexis is a trademark of Codexis, Inc.
Contact:
Codexis, Inc.
Tassos Gianakakos
Sr. Vice President, Business Development
T. +1-650-298-5423
F. +1-650-298-5449
tassos.gianakakos@codexis.com