CDXS

Codexis, Inc.

A maker of custom-engineered enzymes, Codexis grows proteins in the lab to speed up drug-making and other industrial processes, with uses ranging from pharmaceuticals (including a key ingredient in the cholesterol drug Lipitor) to food and RNA therapies. Born in 2002 as a spin-off from biotech firm Maxygen, the company built its craft on "directed evolution" — mimicking natural selection in a dish to breed better enzymes through its CodeEvolver platform. Its name blends "code" and "exis" (evolution), a nod to the very process that powers it.