Maxygen Receives Milestone Payment in Pfizer Collaboration

Maxygen Inc. (Redwood City, CA) has received a milestone payment from Pfizer Inc. (New York). In May 1998, Maxygen entered into a research collaboration with Pfizer to improve the selectivity of an enzyme required for production of the active form of a marketed natural product. Maxygen used its proprietary DNA Shuffling and screening technologies to optimize the biosynthetic pathway of the relevant compound.

Maxygen Inc. is a private biotechnology company that is focused on the development of directed evolution technologies known as DNA Shuffling (also known as Molecular Breeding) to provide value to a broad range of applications including human therapeutics, chemicals, vaccines, gene therapy, industrial enzymes, agriculture, and nutraceuticals.

For more information: Russell Howard, President and CEO, Maxygen Inc., 515 Galveston Dr., Redwood City, CA 94063. Tel: 650-298-5300. Fax: 650-364-2715.