Codexis, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Maxygen, Appoints Industrial Advisory Board
Redwood City, CA - February 27, 2002Codexis, the newly formed chemical subsidiary of California-based Maxygen (NASDAQ: MAXY), today announced the formation and membership of its Industrial Advisory Board, strengthening its position as a leading provider of high-value chemical products and services to the worldwide life science and fine chemical industry.
“We are pleased to announce the assembly of a team of recognized leaders from the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries to provide us with strategic, commercial and scientific guidance,” said Dr. Alan Shaw, Ph.D., President of Codexis. “The Industrial Advisory Board will complement our existing management team by contributing broad industry experience to assist us in maximizing the commercial potential of our technologies.”
The Industrial Advisory Board is comprised of recognized world leaders from leading pharmaceutical and fine chemical companies with broad business and scientific experience. Its membership includes Dr. David Ager, Dr. David Dodds, Dr. Ian Fotheringham, Dr. John Grate, Dr. Peter Pollak, and Dr. Roger Sheldon.
Dr. David Ager was a founding member of NSC Technologies and became a Fellow at Great Lakes Fine Chemicals after their acquisition of NSC in 1999. At Great Lakes, Dr. Ager was responsible for the development of new synthetic methodologies for pharmaceutical intermediates and actives. He has a B.Sc. and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University and is currently working with DSM Fine Chemicals as a Competency Manager for homogenous catalysis.
Dr. David Dodds was most recently Director of Fermentation & Biocatalysis Development with Bristol-Myers Squibb. He joined Sepracor in its start-up phase, and was in charge of enzyme catalysis development. This work ultimately produced a number of patents on the enzymatic resolution of NSAIDs and diltiazem. He joined Schering-Plough to help establish the new biocatalysis group, and subsequently joined Bristol-Myers Squibb. He has been involved in multiple aspects of drug development, including organic synthesis, chemical process development, molecular biology and microbiology and GMP analytical service for natural products and multiple chiral drug intermediates. He has a B.Sc. in Biochemistry, a M.Sc. in Biological Chemistry, a Ph.D. in Organic Synthesis.
Dr. Fotheringham joined the NutraSweet division of Monsanto after receiving his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. At Monsanto, Dr. Fotheringham helped develop microbial systems to produce L-phenylalanine for Aspartame"!. At the NSC Technologies unit of Monsanto, he helped develop novel biocatalytic approaches for the large-scale production of chiral pharmaceutical intermediates such as D and L-amino acids. Since July 2000, he has been a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, working in collaboration with MediChem Life Sciences for the discovery and development of biocatalysts and bioprocesses.
Dr. John Grate began his career in homogeneous catalysis research and development at Catalytica after receiving his Ph.D. at UC, San Diego. He was founding Vice President of Research of Catalytica Fine Chemicals and its successor Catalytica Pharmaceuticals. Under his leadership, new catalytic reactions and processes were invented and developed for pharmaceutical intermediates and actives. Following DSM’s acquisition of Catalytica Pharmaceuticals, he became an independent consultant in chemical process technology, research and development management, and intellectual property.
Dr. Peter Pollak is one of the most renowned business authorities within the fine chemicals sector. During his 30-year tenure at Lonza, he helped create and led Lonza’s Fine Chemicals / Custom Manufacturing Business as Senior Vice President/General Manager of Fine Chemicals at Lonza’s US headquarters.
Dr. Roger Sheldon, is a recognized authority in the application of homogeneous, heterogeneous and enzymatic catalytic methodologies in organic synthesis, particularly in relation to fine chemical production. Dr. Sheldon is currently a Professor of Organic Chemistry at Delft University of Technology. After working in research as a chemist at Royal Dutch Shell, he served as the Research and Development director of Fine Chemicals at DSM-Adeno. He is the author of three books on catalysis and co-editor of several books on catalysis.
The Industrial Advisory Board will work alongside Codexis’ existing network of scientific advisors, which include Drs. Frances Arnold, Rodney Croteau, John Frost and Tomas Hudlicky.
A collaborator of Codexis’ parent company Maxygen since its inception, Dr. Arnold is the Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology and has been a pioneer in the field of evolutionary protein design for multiple applications, including biocatalysis. In 2000 she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and received the Professional Progress Award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Dr. Croteau is a Professor of Biological Chemistry at Washington State University who has authored more than 300 publications. He has also authored 20 patents, received numerous honours and awards, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Croteau is a leader in the field of terpenoid metabolism in plants and microbes. Terpenoids are the largest family of natural products and are key molecules in the flavor and fragrance industries.
Dr. John Frost is a professor of chemistry at Michigan State University. His research focuses on biocatalysis and bioorganic chemical synthesis, in particular the ability of genetically altered microbes to synthesize medicinal and industrial chemicals from inexpensive raw materials. Dr. Frost has conducted research on the conversion of glucose to adipic acid, the conversion of glucose to vanillin and the biosynthesis of 3-dehydroxyshikimic acid in each case via efficient and environmentally compatible routes.
Dr. Hudlicky is the recipient of many awards and distinctions including being named a Fulbright Fellow and a Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow. He is a professor of Organic Chemistry and Biocatalysis in the Department of Chemistry, University of Florida. Dr. Hudlicky is engaged in a variety of projects ranging from total synthesis to investigation of new reactions.
Codexis, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Maxygen, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAXY), is a provider of high-value chemical products and services to the world-wide life science and fine chemical industry. Its proprietary technologies were designed for the rapid discovery and development of catalysts and processes for the efficient and cost-effective synthesis of valuable chemicals. Codexis intends to supply customers with catalysts, bulk pharmaceutical actives, advanced pharmaceutical intermediates, and chemical building blocks and intermediates. Maxygen has validated its broad technology platform with the signing of six strategic alliances in the chemicals field, and has over 18 potential products and processes in its research pipeline, six product candidates in development and three processes at commercial scale.
Maxygen, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAXY) headquartered in Redwood City, California, is focused on creating novel products using its integrated proprietary technologies for human therapeutics and industrial applications. Maxygen’s technologies bring together advances in molecular biology and protein modification to create novel biotechnology products. Maxygen has 20 strategic collaborations with industry leaders and a pipeline of over 40 potential products, including fourteen in development.
This news release contains forward-looking statements about our research and business prospects, including those relating to: the ability of our technologies to discover and develop catalysts and chemical synthesis processes; the speed and cost of such discovery and development; and Codexis’ future business plans. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. Among other things these risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the inherent uncertainties of biological research; changing research and business priorities of Maxygen and Codexis and our ability to develop or commercialize viable product candidates or candidates with desired traits. These and other risk factors are more fully discussed in Maxygen’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000, including under the caption “Risk Factors,” and in our other periodic SEC reports, all of which are available from Maxygen at www.maxygen.com. Maxygen and Codexis disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained in this release as a result of new information or future events or developments. Maxygen is a trademark of Maxygen, Inc. Codexis is a trademark of Codexis.
Contact:
Codexis, Inc.
Tassos Gianakakos
Sr. Vice President, Business Development
T. +1-650-298-5423
F. +1-650-298-5449
tassos.gianakakos@codexis.com