REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—Codexis Inc. has landed a leading global biopharmaceutical company as a partner in a new collaborative research and development agreement, under which it will leverage its CodeEvolver protein engineering platform technology to develop a novel enzyme for use in its partner’s preclinical therapeutic development program. The first stage of this development will be a proof-of-concept study, which is expected to be completed in roughly six months, and should Codexis’ partner choose to proceed, the second stage—an enzyme evolution program—is forecast to run six to 12 months. Codexis has received a $1-million upfront payment, and stands to receive additional payments if both stages are completed and its partner chooses to move forward. Codexis anticipates generating research and development service revenues as well.