Codexis (CDXS) Jefferies London Healthcare Conference 2024 summary

Platform innovation and industry trends

• Enzymatic synthesis for siRNA medicines is gaining traction, with 30-40% of recent industry presentations focused on this technology.

• Codexis demonstrated the first fully enzymatic siRNA drug synthesis, marking a significant milestone.

• The ECO Synthesis platform offers an aqueous, enzyme-driven alternative to traditional, environmentally harsh chemical methods.

• Industry leaders and CDMOs are increasingly interested, shifting perception from skepticism to seeing enzymatic methods as enabling and scalable.

• Codexis' ligation technology enables the assembly of longer RNA sequences with higher yield and purity, tailored to specific molecular constructs.

Commercialization and partnerships

• Ecolab, dedicated to enzymatic siRNA synthesis, is set to open by year-end, with capacity expected to be fully utilized by major innovators.

• The company is transitioning from GLP-grade to GMP manufacturing, aiming for commercial partnerships and scalable production by 2026.

• Revenue streams include upfront payments, development partnerships, milestones, and long-term supply agreements, especially targeting smaller biotech firms.

• The technology is simple to integrate into existing GMP facilities, reducing capital investment compared to chemical synthesis.

• A GMP scaling partnership with a CDMO is expected soon, enabling rapid scale-up for clinical supply.

Financial strategy and growth outlook

• Recent $30 million capital raise is allocated to balance sheet strength, facility upgrades, and expanding RNA ligase and siRNA manufacturing capacity.

• Heritage pharma manufacturing and commercial ligase businesses are expected to drive double-digit growth and profitability by end of 2026.

• Investments focus on increasing internal production scale and downstream processing to capture more value and support growth.

• Plans include building a kilo-scale GMP siRNA plant to bridge preclinical and early clinical supply needs, with larger scale targeted for 2028-2029.

• The Eco platform is positioned to launch from a profitable base, supporting further investment and value capture.