Codexis, Inc. has signed an agreement extension with Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., to license and supply a proprietary enzyme used in the manufacturing process for sitagliptin, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Merck’s JANUVIA and one of the active ingredients in Merck’s JANUMET.
 
Under a R&D agreement, Codexis and Merck used the CodeEvolver protein engineering platform technology to develop a customized enzyme to serve as a biocatalyst in the sitagliptin process. The resulting enzyme streamlined the manufacturing process and increased production yield, while reducing costs and waste. In 2012 the companies entered into a supply agreement for the enzyme.
 
“The extension of this contract, coming on the heels of our licensing agreement for the CodeEvolver technology, is yet another vote of confidence in our protein engineering technology,” said Codexis president and chief executive officer John Nicols. “We are proud to continue our long term collaboration with Merck.”