Enzyme Developer Codexis Files For $100M IPO

NEW YORK (AP) — Industrial enzyme developer Codexis Inc. plans to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering in 2010.

The Redwood City, Calif., company has not yet set a date for the proposed IPO and did not say how many shares it would sell. Codexis said it will use the funds from the IPO to fund working capital and corporate activities, potentially including acquisitions or increasing its production capacity.

The planned IPO was disclosed in a filing made Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering will be underwritten by Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, RBC Capital Markets, Pacific Crest Securities. Shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "CDXS."

Codexis develops technology that is used to create biocatalysts, or enzymes and microbes that are used to start or speed up chemical reactions. The company said its technology allows companies to use biological catalysts that can make their industrial processes faster, cleaner, and more efficient, and work in less complex conditions and with less expensive equipment.

Codexis gets most of its revenue from a research collaboration with oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell PLC. It has also worked with drugmakers Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd., Merck & Co., Pfizer Inc., and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., and said its target markets are the pharmaceutical, biofuel, air, water, and chemicals industries.

The collaboration with Shell is currently set to last through November 2012. Codexis reported $50.5 million in revenue in 2008, and $58.7 million in the first nine months of 2009. It has lost $15.1 million from January to September this year.

Codexis incorporated in January 2002 as a subsidiary of biotechnology company Maxygen Inc. It became a separate company in March of that year.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints