Codexis, Inc., a protein engineering company and developer of novel biotherapeutics, and Nestlé Health Science, a globally recognized leader in the field of nutritional 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 stated, “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.