July 19, 2007 — /PRNewswire/ — REDWOOD CITY, CA — Codexis, Inc., a private biotechnology company and leading developer of clean manufacturing technologies, today announced it has acquired BioCatalytics, Inc., Pasadena, CA. BioCatalytics is a private company that has produced custom and off-the-shelf enzymes used in chemical process manufacturing by pharmaceutical and fine chemical companies for nearly a decade. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and has closed.
The acquisition combines two companies focused on biocatalysis, a high-growth clean technology that uses specialized enzymes to accelerate and improve the economics and environmental impact of chemical reactions. Resulting new manufacturing processes are shorter, faster, and cleaner than those using conventional chemical synthesis technology. The U.S. enzyme market is expected to increase from $1.6 billion in 2005 to $2.2 billion by 2010, according to industry estimates. This growth is driven in part by increasing demand for renewable fuels and cleaner, less costly ways to manufacture pharmaceuticals.
“This acquisition creates a market leader in biocatalysis, bringing the power of clean biobased manufacturing technology to customers seeking alternatives to undesirable or unsustainable chemical processes,” says Alan Shaw, PhD, president and CEO. “Codexis has built a worldwide track record of leadership developing novel, efficient manufacturing process technologies used by major industrial companies. BioCatalytics, one of the most respected companies in this growing industry sector, offers a broad catalog of enzyme catalysts and technology services long used by the life science industry in chemical synthesis. Our expanded company will provide a broad product and service platform to serve the pharmaceutical industry worldwide, and will also offer exciting new enzyme technologies to our bioindustrial partners.”
“Joining Codexis is an important strategic step for our company,” says David Rozzell, PhD, president of BioCatalytics. “We are combining the extensive enzyme product lines of BioCatalytics with Codexis’ powerful technology for enzyme customization and improvement. This combination will allow us to bring green chemistry alternatives to an unparalleled range of chemical reactions and offer our customers the broadest range of enzyme products and services in the world.” Rozzell is joining Codexis as vice president, enzyme products and services, in the Pharma Services Group, reporting to Peter Seufer-Wasserthal, PhD, vice president and general manager, Pharma Services Group. BioCatalytics employees will remain at the current location in Pasadena. For more information on BioCatalytics, see http://www.biocatalytics.com/.
Codexis, Inc. is a leading developer of biocatalytic process technologies that can substantially reduce the cost of manufacturing across a broad range of industries. Codexis’ proprietary directed evolution technologies enable novel solutions for efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly processes for pharmaceutical, energy and industrial chemical applications. In 2006, the company was recognized by the U.S. EPA with a Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. Codexis is a registered trademark of Codexis, Inc. For more information, see http://www.codexis.com/
Source: Codexis, Inc.