Codexis (NASDAQ:CDXS) reported higher third-quarter revenue and a narrower loss as its pharmaceutical biocatalysis business grew, while executives outlined progress toward commercial adoption of the company’s ECO Synthesis platform for manufacturing oligonucleotide medicines.
Revenue rose to $19.3 million in the third quarter of 2026 from $8.6 million a year earlier. The net loss narrowed to $8.1 million from $19.6 million, and the company reaffirmed its full-year revenue forecast of $72 million to $76 million.
President and CEO Alison Moore said Codexis had produced multiple batches of material at the 100-gram scale using ECO Synthesis and reduced process cycle times by 40%. The company is working toward 500-gram production and, ultimately, kilogram-scale readiness.
Biocatalysis growth lifts results
Codexis’ small-molecule biocatalysis business benefited from recent drug approvals and increased product sales, according to Britton Jimenez, senior vice president of sales and marketing. Product sales for the first nine months of 2026 rose 78.5% from the same period a year earlier, led by CDX-049, an enzyme used to produce two branded pharmaceuticals.
Jimenez said three drugs that use Codexis enzymes in production were approved this year, including two that the company considers potential blockbuster products. The biocatalysis pipeline includes 12 programs in Phase 2 or Phase 3 development, with trial data expected from seven studies over the next two years.
Third-quarter product gross margin was 74.5%. CFO and Chief Business Officer Georgia Erbez said the company now expects a product gross margin in the low 70% range for 2026, citing improvement during the first nine months of the year.
Research and development expenses fell to $12.6 million from $13.9 million a year earlier, while selling, general and administrative expenses declined to $10.1 million from $11.2 million.
ECO Synthesis advances and customer evaluations
Codexis is developing ECO Synthesis as an enzymatic alternative for manufacturing oligonucleotides, including components of small interfering RNA, or siRNA, medicines. At the TIDES Europe conference, the company presented data showing consistent product quality at the 100-milligram and 100-gram scales, Chief Scientific Officer Stefan Lutz said.
Jimenez said the 100-gram material achieved crude purity above 90%. Moore said Codexis plans to reach 500 grams by joining, or ligating, smaller fragments produced using the platform.
Lutz also described early laboratory results involving two stereo-controlled siRNA molecules made with ECO Synthesis. In tests in primary human liver cells, the molecules showed three- to fourfold greater potency than a chemically synthesized stereo-random control, while achieving comparable maximum gene knockdown. Lutz said greater potency could potentially allow lower doses and other benefits, though the results were preliminary.
The company signed a feasibility study in October with an siRNA developer to produce stereo-defined fragments. It also signed an evaluation agreement with a large biopharmaceutical company covering ligation work on a late-stage asset and a planned transfer of ECO Synthesis technology into the customer’s pilot-scale facility.
Jimenez said two of three evaluations with contract development and manufacturing organizations, or CDMOs, had been completed, with the third ongoing. Codexis is discussing potential longer-term agreements with the two that completed their evaluations and has engaged with two additional CDMOs.
Moore said the company had several commercial initiatives in late-stage negotiations but that the timing of additional agreements was difficult to predict. She said the two recent customer agreements could, if successful, lead to technology licensing arrangements.
Moore also said Codexis met with the Food and Drug Administration’s Emerging Technology Team in mid-September to discuss specifications for the platform’s enzymes and siRNA products, as well as how to approach comparisons with products made using conventional chemistry.
Financing and cash runway
Codexis ended the quarter with $72.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, compared with $78.2 million at the end of 2025. It raised approximately $25 million in net proceeds from an equity offering during the quarter.
After quarter-end, Codexis entered a $60 million senior secured term loan agreement and drew $42.5 million, using the proceeds to repay $42 million of existing debt. The new loan provides for 48 months of interest-only payments followed by a 12-month amortization period.
Erbez said the company expects its current cash to fund planned operations and capital expenditures through 2028, unchanged from its prior runway guidance. Moore said Codexis also plans to advance its raw-material supply chain and begin construction of a good manufacturing practice production facility in the coming months.
About Codexis (NASDAQ:CDXS)
Codexis, Inc. is a biotechnology company that develops enzymes and other biocatalytic technologies for use in pharmaceutical and biomanufacturing applications. Its proprietary CodeEvolver protein-engineering platform is designed to improve the performance of naturally occurring enzymes, including their activity, selectivity, stability and production characteristics. The company works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop biocatalysts used in the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients, intermediates and other complex molecules.
