Codexis & Nestlé Health Science Sign Development Agreement

Codexis, Inc. and Nestlé Health Science have signed an agreement to advance a lead candidate discovered through a Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) into preclinical development and early clinical studies. The SCA, signed in 2017, was an agreement to co-discover new enzyme therapy candidates for Nestlé Health Science’s nutritional therapies portfolio.

The companies’ new agreement will advance the development of CDX-7108, the lead candidate for a potential treatment of a GI disorder. In parallel, the original SCA will be extended through the end of 2021 to support the discovery of therapeutic candidates for additional disorders.

“Our new and extended agreements with Codexis are a demonstration of the progress of the biotherapeutic pipeline as a result of our partnership, building on the previously established clinical success with CDX-6114 targeting phenylketonuria,” said Greg Behar, CEO of Nestlé Health Science. “The CDX-7108 program is the first project performed under the SCA, and in less than two years from conceptualization, we have created an orally administrable enzyme candidate that meets our target criteria for advancement.”

John Nicols, Codexis’ President and CEO, added, “This partnership was initiated to leverage and extend the application of the CodeEvolver® protein engineering platform and to create novel enzymes that will further fuel our biotherapeutics pipeline. Two years into the collaboration, we are excited to advance our first candidate into formal preclinical development. In parallel, it is equally satisfying to see Nestlé Health Science endorse the wider possibilities of creating value with our CodeEvolver technology by continuing our productive collaboration on other therapeutic concepts in this extended SCA chapter.”

Under the Development Agreements Codexis and Nestlé Health Science will retain joint ownership over the rights to CDX-7108, as they move this therapeutic enzyme candidate into preclinical and clinical development.

Nestlé Health Science (NHSc), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nestlé, is a globally recognized leader in the field of nutritional science. At NHSc we are committed to empowering healthier lives through nutrition for consumers, patients and their healthcare partners. We offer an extensive consumer health portfolio of industry-leading medical nutrition, consumer and VMS brands that are science-based solutions covering all facets of health from prevention, to maintenance, all the way through to treatment. NHSc is redefining the way we approach the management of health in several key areas such as pediatric health, allergy, acute care, oncology, metabolic health, healthy aging, gastrointestinal health, and inborn errors of metabolism. Headquartered in Switzerland, NHSc employs over 5,000 people around the world, who are committed to making a difference in people’s lives, for a healthier today and tomorrow.

Codexis is a leading protein engineering company that applies its proprietary CodeEvolver^® technology to develop proteins for a variety of applications, including as biocatalysts for the commercial manufacture of pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals and industrial enzymes, and enzymes as biotherapeutics and for use in molecular diagnostics. Codexis’ proven technology enables improvements in protein performance, meeting customer needs for rapid, cost-effective and sustainable manufacturing in multiple commercial-scale implementations of biocatalytic processes. For more information, visit www.codexis.com.