Codexis Appoints Dr. Hicham Alaoui, Veteran Drug Discoverer, as Vice President, Biotherapeutics Research & Development
July 11 2018 - 7:00AM
Codexis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDXS), a leading protein engineering company,
announces the appointment of Hicham Alaoui, Ph.D. to the newly
created position of Vice President, Biotherapeutics Research &
Development. The appointment brings Dr. Alaoui’s unique drug
discovery skills and talents to Codexis at a pivotal time as the
company expands its Biotherapeutics business and works to follow
recent success in bringing its first drug candidate, CDX-6114 for
potential treatment of phenylketonuria (PKU), into early clinical
trials. Hicham will report to Codexis President & CEO John
Nicols and will be responsible for directing the Codexis’
biotherapeutics discovery pipeline within R&D, and for the
acceleration of drug candidates toward the clinic.
“Hicham’s broad and extensive drug discovery talents are a
crucial and welcome addition to Codexis’ great R&D tradition,”
said Nicols. “Hicham will amplify our ability to drive candidates
from our drug discovery pipeline and toward clinical trials given
his unique drug discovery, pharmacology, and product
characterization skills refined over decades against a wide ranging
set of therapeutic modalities and disease areas. In addition to his
synergistic scientific expertise, Hicham will also bring a wealth
of drug discovery and development leadership experience that will
help the Codexis leadership team broadly with the continued
build-out of the Biotherapeutics business.”
“Timing for my arrival at Codexis is tremendous,” said Dr.
Alaoui. “The CodeEvolver® protein engineering platform has already
successfully brought a drug candidate for PKU into clinical trials,
following its demonstration of a unique mode of gastro-intestinal
action in preclinical pharmacology models. I plan to help
demonstrate that this is only the beginning for successfully
applying CodeEvolver® technology as a drug discovery engine, and to
accelerate the pace of lead candidates advancing from Codexis’
biotherapeutics discovery pipeline.”
Dr. Alaoui has more than 20 years of experience in a variety of
drug discovery and development organizations. Most recently Dr.
Alaoui served as Senior Vice President Discovery Biology and
co-head of Research at Symic Bio, where he was responsible for
expanding that company’s pipeline and strategically extending into
new therapeutic areas. Prior to Symic Bio, Dr. Alaoui worked for
five years at Genentech, ultimately leading a large in vitro
pharmacology group dedicated to lead discovery and optimization for
both biotherapeutic and small molecule programs. Prior to
Genentech, he acted as key contributor for driving multiple protein
therapeutic candidates into clinical trials, as well as the
establishment of novel in vitro and in vivo pharmacology assays
through his various R&D leadership positions at Stryker
Biotech, VisEn Medical, Neogenesis Pharmaceuticals, and Shire
BioChem. Dr. Alaoui earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology
at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, as well as an M.Sc.
in Biochemistry from Pierre & Marie Curie Université, Paris,
France. Dr. Alaoui has authored numerous peer-reviewed
publications, in addition to being named as an inventor on multiple
patent applications.
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 Form 10-Q filed May 10,
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.
Contacts: |
|
InvestorsLHA Investor RelationsJody Cain,
310-691-7100 jcain@lhai.com |
MediaSCORR
MarketingLea Studer, 402-366-1752lea@scorrmarketing.com |
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