Maxygen Inc. was a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing improved versions of protein drugs using DNA shuffling and other protein modification technologies. The company was headquartered in Redwood City, CA. It dissolved in 2013. The Maxygen legacy was revived in 2018 with a focus on Directed Evolution of Proteins using Molecular Breeding. Maxygen LLC is currently headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA.
Maxygen Inc. 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 with potential commercial interest. This laboratory process mimics the powerful natural process of evolution. The success of Maxygen's technology was documented in numerous scientific publications and patents. Other protein engineering and protein modification technologies used by Maxygen include mutagenesis, rational design, PEGylation, glycosylation, and de-immunization.
History
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 Inc. 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 MaxyAg to focus on agricultural applications. MaxyAg was later renamed Verdia Inc., and 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. In 2008, the company sold its MAXY-VII candidate drug, a recombinant form of clotting factor VIIa, to Bayer HealthCare. 2009 saw the formation of a joint venture between Maxygen and Astellas called Perseid Therapeutics, in which Maxygen retained majority ownership. The intention was to work through Perseid to exploit most of Maxygen's proprietary technology and intellectual property. By 2011, Astellas exercised an option to fully acquire Perseid and with it the sole candidate drug in its portfolio, MAXY-4, a CTLA-4-immunoglobulin fusion protein therapeutic, which was positioned to be a direct competitor to Orencia, marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb. It was reported in June 2013 that the company's board of directors had chosen to "liquidate and dissolve the struggling protein pharmaceuticals developer", which led to the exit of the company's CEO/CFO James Sulat by the end of June 2013. The company's intention at the time was to seek a buyer for its MAXY-G34 candidate drug, a pegylated, granulocyte colongy stimulating factor. Maxygen filed a certificate of dissolution on August 29, 2013. The company has ceased all operations.
