| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NASDAQ: MAXY |
| Industry | industrial biotechnology, pharmaceuticals |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters | Redwood City, CA |
| Key people | Alejandro Zaffaroni Willem P.C. Stemmer Russell Howard Isaac Stein |
| Website | www.maxygen.com |
Maxygen Inc. (NASDAQ: MAXY) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing improved versions of protein drugs using DNA shuffling and other protein modification technologies. The company is headquartered in Redwood City, CA.
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Maxygen’s clinical programs include a novel G-CSF for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, which entered clinical trials in 2006. Maxygen also has a preclinical program, MAXY-4, to develop a novel CTLA4-Ig therapeutic for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
Maxygen was established to commercially exploit its proprietary recombination-based technologies for creating genetic diversity, known as its Molecular Breeding directed evolution platform. These technologies allow the generation of millions of variant genes and proteins, which then can be screened to identify those of potential commercial interest. This laboratory process mimics the powerful natural process of evolution. Maxygen’s work has led to numerous scientific publications and patents.
Other protein engineering and protein modification technologies used by Maxygen include mutagenesis, rational design, PEGylation, glycosylation, and de-immunization.
Maxygen was founded in 1997 by Dr. Alejandro Zaffaroni, a San Francisco Bay Area scientist and entrepreneur, and three co-founders: Dr. Willem P.C. Stemmer, Dr. Russell Howard and Isaac Stein. Dr. Zaffaroni has founded multiple companies including ALZA Corporation, DNAX Research Institute, Affymax, Affymetrix, Symyx Technologies, and Alexza.
Maxygen has demonstrated that the MolecularBreeding directed evolution platform has commercial potential in a number of areas, including agriculture, veterinary medicine, enzyme/chemical processes, and human therapeutics. To accelerate its development of improved biopharmaceuticals, Maxygen acquired the Danish company Profound Pharma A/S in 2000, created by Christian Karsten Hansen and Jan Møller Mikkelsen in 1999. To facilitate the commercial development of products made with its technologies, in 2002 Maxygen established Codexis to focus on enzyme/chemical applications and Verdia Inc. to focus on agricultural applications. Verdia was sold to DuPont in 2004 for $64 million. In addition, Maxygen established Avidia in 2003 to develop protein subunits as commercial products, including therapeutics. Avidia was purchased by Amgen in 2006 for $290 million.
The company reported a fourth-quarter 2007 loss of $11.3M.[1]