Codexis Attends Opening Ceremony for Porton’s Fermentation Pilot Lab in Chongqing

CHONGQING, China, Jan. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Codexis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDXS) today announced that it has attended the official opening of Porton Pharma Solutions Ltd.’s (SZSE: 300363) fermentation pilot laboratory located in Porton’s Changshou site, achieving another important milestone in the strategic partnership between Porton and Codexis in the field of biocatalysis technology.

The opening of Porton’s biocatalysis technology lab and fermentation facility at its Changshou site in Chongqing builds on its previous strategic investments in biocatalysis, and its partnership with Codexis. In 2018, in order to further expand the value adding application of biocatalysis in pharmaceutical processes, Porton and Codexis announced their strategic partnership, and Porton established licensed biocatalysis capabilities at its Shanghai R&D center. Since then, the partnership has focused on screening biocatalysts against many of Porton’s CDMO process opportunities.

Porton’s new biocatalysis infrastructure in Chongqing adds enzyme development and pilot scale manufacturing to its established high throughput biocatalysis screening expertise. These investments enable the prospect to broaden the application of Codexis’ biocatalyst technologies within Porton’s global pharmaceutical customer base.

"Codexis is the leader in protein engineering technology, while Porton is a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) that serves more than 300 projects annually,” said Oliver Ju, Chairman and CEO of Porton, “The collaboration between Porton and Codexis during the past 18 months has achieved a win-win situation for not only us, but also for our customers. I look forward to continuing to provide advanced, green, and sustainable technology for customers around the world through in-depth cooperation with Codexis, and to pushing our strategic cooperation to a broader application space."

"It is my great honor to witness the launch of Porton's pilot fermentation laboratory in Chongqing. Since Codexis and Porton cemented our strategic cooperation in April 2018, we have been maintaining a close and productive collaboration in the application of biocatalysis technology,” said Pierre Brazeau, Codexis’ VP of Business Development.

John Nicols, Codexis’ President and CEO, added “We are excited to support Porton in expanding the partnership and growing penetration of our technology within global pharmaceutical manufacturing.”

About Porton Pharma Solutions
Porton Pharma Solutions is an industry-leading partner and provider of custom active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) development and manufacturing services to the global drug industry (SZSE, Stock Code 300363). Backed by more than 2,000 customer-centric employees, cutting-edge Process R&D Centers, USFDA, PMDA and EMA-inspected cGMP production sites and marketing offices located across Asia, North America and Europe, Porton helps its customers more efficiently deliver improved health outcomes to their patients through chemical process innovation, rapid scale-up and high-quality, cost-effective manufacture of APIs and/or drug intermediates. Learn more by visiting www.porton.cn.

About Codexis, Inc.
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, see www.codexis.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

To the extent that statements contained in this press release are not descriptions of historical facts regarding Codexis, they are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including Codexis’ expectations regarding how the strategic partnership with Porton can enable the penetration of Codexis’ technology within global pharmaceutical manufacturing. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases, beyond Codexis’ control and that could materially affect actual results.  Additional information about factors that could materially affect actual results can be found in Codexis’ Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 1, 2019 and Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 6, 2019, including under the caption “Risk Factors” and in Codexis’ other periodic reports filed with the SEC. Codexis expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Investor Contact:

LHA Investor Relations
Jody Cain, 310-691-7100
jcain@lhai.com

Released January 13, 2020