Bringing clarity and precision to the cell-free space by introducing exozymes

April 21, 2025 at 16:10 PM EDT

Scientific definition of exozymes featured as cover story in GEN Biotechnology, freely available as an Open Access paper

The author team introduces the terms ‘exozymes’ to bring clarity to the rapidly evolving field of cell-free biomanufacturing—a biomanufacturing method to produce chemicals without relying on living cells like bacteria or yeast

The paper features co-authors from multiple institutions such as The National Renewable Laboratory (NREL), UCLA, Caltech, University of Colorado Boulder, Sepia Biosciences, as well as the venture studio, Ferment

The authors intend the terms to be freely available for use by the broader scientiﬁc community, and no trademarks have been ﬁled

Monrovia, CA, April 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, eXoZymes Inc. (NASDAQ: EXOZ) (“eXoZymes”) - a pioneer of AI-engineered enzymes that can transform sustainable feedstock into nutraceuticals, medicines, and other essential chemicals - is featured as the cover story in the April issue of the peer-reviewed journal, GEN Biotechnology.

Dr. Tyler Korman, co-founder and VP of Research at eXoZymes, is excited about the 'exozymes' cover story in GEN Biotechnology, which is freely available as an Open Access paper

The Perspective paper called “Exozymes for Biomanufacturing: Toward Clarity and Precision in the Cell-Free Space” focuses on providing a scientific definition of 'exozymes' to alleviate confusion surrounding use of the phrase 'cell-free' with an emphasis on its use in biomanufacturing. While the most well-known and successful applications of ‘cell-free’ technologies include next-generation sequencing-based diagnostics utilizing cell-free DNA/RNA (cfDNA/RNA), cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS, among others), these technologies, their operational mechanisms, processes, and final products differ significantly from ‘cell-free biomanufacturing’.

Member of the Strategic Advisory Board at Codexis and eXoZymes Board Member, Dr. Jim Lalonde, elaborates, “As a concept, exozymes unlocks the increased leverage from the evolution of the biotechnology tool stack and its synergy with AI. I think about those technologies amplifying the inherent properties of enzymes to enable them to be cost-effective and scalable in ways that fermentation simply cannot match. In my mind, this is a massive unlock for biotechnology and one of the reasons the "Exozyme Era" has arrived.”

Dr. Kevin Davies, Executive Editor of GEN Biotechnology, adds, "The team at eXoZymes caught our eye recently with its very well-orchestrated rebranding but, more importantly, the innovative potential this platform represents in the drug development space. We think the Perspective that the company has just published in GEN Biotechnology after peer review has far-reaching value for the biotech community, providing rich historical context on the breadth and in some cases, misconceptions of what cell-free research entails as well as advocating for new terminology. This paper could have been published in any number of high-visibility journals; we're grateful that the eXoZymes team chose GEN Biotechnology to validate and disseminate this work."

Dr. Tyler Korman, co-founder and VP of Research at eXoZymes states, “By introducing exozymes as a common terminology, we enable investors, the scientific community, and the laymen to understand that when we speak about an exozyme or exozyme system, we're talking about industrial biomanufacturing. We thank GEN Biotechnology for the help in doing this and we hope that with this new terminology we can all coalesce around a common language to push the field forward in the future.”

The author team introduces the terms ‘exozymes’ and ‘exozyme systems’ to bring clarity to the rapidly evolving field of cell-free biomanufacturing—a method of producing chemicals without relying on living cells like bacteria or yeast. By formally adopting the terms exozyme and exozyme system, the authors aim to accelerate innovation, streamline partnerships, and make it easier to fund and regulate the next generation of biomanufacturing.

About eXoZymes

Founded in 2019, the company has developed a biomanufacturing platform that - as a historic first - offers the tools and insights to engineer, control and optimize nature’s own natural processes to produce chemical compounds, enabling the company’s partners to replace traditional chemical production methods with a new commercially scalable, sustainable, and eco-friendly alternative: exozymes.

Exozymes are advanced enzymes enhanced through AI and bioengineering to thrive in a bioreactor outside of living cells. Exozymes can replace toxic petrochemical processes and inefficient biochemical extraction with sustainable and scalable biosolutions that transform biomass into essential chemicals, medicines, and biofuels.

By freeing enzyme-driven chemical reactions from the limitations imposed by cells, exozyme biosolutions eliminate the scaling bottleneck that has hampered commercial success in the synthetic biology (SynBio) space, making exozymes the next generation of biomanufacturing.

While the company, eXoZymes Inc., has introduced “exozymes” as a scientific concept, they are not trademarking the concept, as they view it as a new nomenclature for wide adoption for this next generation of biomanufacturing that eXoZymes aims to pioneer and be the market leader of.

Learn more on exozymes.com.

eXoZymes Safe Harbor

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe the company’s future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “seek,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “project,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “strategy,” “future,” “likely” or other comparable terms, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release regarding the company’s strategies, prospects, financial condition, operations, costs, plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially for a variety of reasons. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of eXoZymes’ quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, annual reports on Form 10-K, and other documents filed by eXoZymes from time to time by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings identify and address important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and eXoZymes assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. eXoZymes does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.

eXoZymes contact
Lasse Görlitz, VP of Communications
(858) 319-7135
press@exozymes.com

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