Codexis Appoints Claus Ladefoged to Global Enzyme Business Development Role


REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Codexis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDXS), a leading protein engineering company, announces the appointment of Claus Ladefoged as Director, Enzyme Business Development.  Ladefoged has extensive experience in successfully building relationships and developing new business through his 27-year tenure at Novozymes A/S and Novo Nordisk A/S.  In this newly created position, Ladefoged will report to Codexis CEO John Nicols. 

“Claus is a great addition to the Codexis team for advancing our enzyme business development efforts given his in-depth understanding of enzyme solutions, his extensive first-hand experience in growing significant revenue portfolios, and his natural entrepreneurial style,” said Nicols.  “His proven success in developing business opportunities and negotiating complex commercial contracts with some of the world’s largest corporations will be highly valuable as we further drive growth with our current customer base and open new customer opportunities.”

“I’m delighted to join Codexis and to bring my energies and experiences to help drive new innovative solutions to global customers leveraging Codexis’ high-value enzyme solutions,” said Ladefoged.  “I see significant opportunities with the CodeEvolver® technology platform to rapidly develop and produce highly optimized proteins that can be custom-designed for a wide variety of potential applications.”

Ladefoged most recently served as Global Senior Key Account Manager for Novozymes A/S, where he played a key role as responsible for a number of larger customers within the House Hold Care Division. Prior to that, he was Acting Director for Novozymes A/S Customer Technical Support, overseeing a team of 40 professionals providing enzyme solutions for a variety of industries and applications and has also been responsible for enzyme characterization and the development of high-throughput screening assays for a number of leading enzyme products. Ladefoged was one of the original members of Novozymes A/S having worked for Novo Nordisk A/S for nine years prior to the spin out that created Novozymes A/S. 

Ladefoged earned an M.Sc. in Biochemistry from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where his thesis focused on peptide inhibition of enzymes, and he completed one year of studies at the University of California, Davis.

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. 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. Factors that could materially affect actual results include, among others: Codexis’ dependence on its licensees and collaborators; Codexis’ dependence on a limited number of products and customers in its biocatalysis business; potential adverse effects to Codexis’ business if its customers’ pharmaceutical or food products are not received well in the markets; risks, uncertainties and costs associated with the successful development of biotherapeutic candidates, including obtaining development partners for its biotherapeutic programs and progressing such programs to clinical trials and regulatory approvals; Codexis’ ability to develop and commercialize new products for the biocatalysis markets; Codexis’ dependence on a limited number of contract manufacturers for large-scale production of its enzymes; Codexis’ ability to deploy its technology platform in new market spaces, including the fine chemicals, therapeutics and in vitro molecular diagnostics markets; Codexis’ ability to comply with the terms of its credit facility and its associated debt service obligations; Codexis’ need for additional capital in the future in order to expand its business or to adjust for market conditions or strategic considerations, which may involve Codexis entering into equity offerings, debt financings, credit facilities and/or strategic collaborations; Codexis’ dependence on key personnel; Codexis’ ability to establish and maintain adequate protection for intellectual property, trade secrets and other proprietary rights covering its technologies; and any claims by third parties that Codexis is infringing their intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights. 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 15, 2018 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed August 8, 2018, 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.

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