Codexis gets $50 million injection from Casdin Capital

US protein engineering company Codexis (Nasdaq: CDXS) says that Casdin Capital, a New York City-based life science-focused investment firm and current stockholder of Codexis, has invested around $50 million in Codexis through the purchase of shares of Codexis’ common stock in a private placement.

Codexis shares closed up 2.4% at $18.73 on Wednesday, ahead of the announcement, and were unchanged pre-market today.

“The value and the versatility of Codexis’ business and engineering platform enables a diverse set of high-growth capabilities across multiple markets,” said Codexis president and chief executive John Nicols, adding: “Casdin has long recognized our technology and leadership capability and, with their latest investment, we have significant financial flexibility to capitalize on a variety of growth opportunities.”

“The ability to drive performance and economic advantages through the intelligent engineering of enzymes is now a critical capability across a diverse set of end markets,” said Eli Casdin, CEO of Casdin Capital. “We believe that Codexis is one of the few proven management teams and technology platforms capable of capturing this fast-growing market demand and are excited to catalyze their strategic growth initiatives,” he explained.

About the private placement

On June 20, 2019, Codexis sold 3,048,780 shares of common stock at a price per share of $16.40 in the private placement. The shares of common stock sold in this private placement have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and were sold in a private placement pursuant to Regulation D of the Securities Act.

Codexis has agreed to file a registration statement covering the resale of the shares of common stock acquired by Casdin within 180 days, subject to certain exceptions.