Codexis to Host Virtual KOL Event on its ECO Synthesis Platform and the Future of RNAi Therapeutics Manufacturing on December 8, 2023 - Seite 2

About David Butler, PhD

David Butler, PhD, is the Chief Technology Officer at Hongene Biotech Corporation, a fully integrated supplier of raw materials and contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) services to customers in the RNA therapeutics space, the scope of which includes mRNA, vaccines, oligonucleotides, gene editing, gene therapy and diagnostics. Prior to Hongene, Dr. Butler led organizations driving platform discovery and development of oligonucleotide therapeutics as Vice President (VP) and Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Wave Life Sciences, VP and Head of Therapeutics Development at Alltrna, and VP and Head of Chemistry at Korro Bio. He also spent time as a Principal Scientist at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals developing early lipid nanoparticle technologies for small interfering RNA delivery that were the progenitors of those used for messenger RNA related products today.

About the ECO Synthesis Platform

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) as a therapeutic modality has gained tremendous traction in recent years with the growing number of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines and small interfering RNA (siRNA) candidates advancing in clinical studies. However, large-scale production of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics using traditional chemical synthesis faces complex challenges in nucleic acids quality and quantity, as well as overall economics. With over 450 RNAi therapies currently in clinical development, including more than 40 assets in Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials targeting disease indications impacting millions of patients, RNAi therapeutic demand is projected to outpace current production capabilities by the end of the decade. Codexis’ proprietary ECO Synthesis technology platform is being designed to address these scalability and cost limitations by potentially enabling the commercial-scale manufacture of RNAi therapeutics through an enzymatic route. The Company is on track to demonstrate gram-scale synthesis by the end of 2023, where it will demonstrate the preparative-scale manufacture of an oligonucleotide, composed of the modified nucleotide building blocks typically used in RNAi therapeutics, under process-like conditions.