8-K
EXOZYMES INC. (EXOZ)
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
8-K
Current
Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date
of Report (Date of earliest event reported):
January 29, 2026
EXOZYMES
INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Nevada | 001-42204 | 83-4550057 |
|---|---|---|
| (State<br> or other jurisdiction<br><br> <br>of<br> incorporation) | (Commission<br><br> <br>File<br> Number) | (I.R.S.<br> Employer<br><br> <br>Identification<br> No.) |
750Royal Oaks Drive, Suite 106
Monrovia,CA 91016
(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (626) 415-1488
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
| ☐ | Written<br> communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
|---|---|
| ☐ | Soliciting<br> material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
| ☐ | Pre-commencement<br> communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) |
| ☐ | Pre-commencement<br> communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered |
|---|---|---|
| Common<br> Stock | EXOZ | Nasdaq<br> Capital Market |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter). Emerging growth company ☒
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Item8.01 — Other Events.
Attached is a press release dated January 29, 20226, announcing the advancing commercial readiness of the initial NCT pilot run.
Item9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
| (d) | Exhibits |
|---|---|
| Exhibits | Description<br> of Exhibit |
| --- | --- |
| 99.1 | Press release dated January 29, 2026. |
| 104 | Cover<br> Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL Document). |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| Date: | February 4, 2026 | EXOZYMES<br> INC. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| By | /s/ Fouad Nawaz | ||
| Fouad<br> Nawaz, | |||
| Vice<br> President, Finance |
Exhibit99.1
[eXoZymesadvancing commercial readiness with profound production metrics on initial NCT pilot run
| ● | N-trans-caffeoyltyramine<br> (NCT) is an interesting naturally occurring compound that has attracted scientific attention<br> in exploratory studies related to lipid metabolism and energy utilization pathways. |
|---|---|
| ● | The<br> production was executed by an external partner under pilot-scale conditions using standardized<br> protocols. |
| --- | --- |
| ● | The<br> pilot run achieved approximately 99% reaction conversion, 90% isolated yield, and 535 grams<br> of NCT at 99.6% pharma-grade purity. |
| --- | --- |
| ● | Reaction<br> performance was observed to improve at increased operating scale. |
| --- | --- |
| ● | High-purity<br> NCT now available for formulation development with commercial partners. |
| --- | --- |
LosAngeles, CA -- January 29, 2026 -- Today, eXoZymes Inc. (NASDAQ: EXOZ) (“eXoZymes”) - a pioneer of AI-enhanced enzymes thatcan transform sustainable feedstock into nutraceuticals and new medicines - reported detailed downstream performance results from itsrecently completed 100-liter pilot production run of NCT. The results expand upon the previously announced 100× scale-up milestoneand provide new data demonstrating manufacturability, material recovery, and product quality at commercially relevant scale.
Following completion of the pilot run and product isolation and purification, eXoZymes achieved approximately 99% reaction conversion, 91% process- recovery, and a 90% isolated yield, resulting in 535 grams of isolated NCT. Final product purity was measured at 99.6%, based on post-isolation analytical characterization. Together, these metrics provide a full, end-to-end view of process performance spanning reaction, isolation, and purification.
“Whatmakes this initial NCT pilot run profound is how counter to conventional experience these results are. In most biological systems, performancetypically degrades as you scale - reactions become harder to control, yields drop, and variability increases. With our AI-enhanced enzymes- exozymes - we see the opposite trend.” states co-founder of eXoZymes and VP of Development, Paul Opgenorth, PhD, and continues, “At very small laboratory scale, where cell-free reactions are usually developed and optimized, performance can actually bethe weakest. It improves at the one-liter scale, and this scaled run at 100 liters further reinforces that the system benefits from operatingat larger volumes. Seeing that behavior carry through to high recovery, isolated yield, and pharma-grade purity supports that exozymesrepresent a fundamentally different and more scalable biomanufacturing paradigm compared to existing approaches.”
Using a NCT tech transfer package, the pilot production was executed by Cayman Chemical, which independently operated the cell-free reaction, downstream processing, isolation, and analytical confirmation. This marks the first time the exozyme-based biomanufacturing process has been run end-to-end by an external partner, demonstrating protocol transferability and operational robustness.
Team Lead of Biosolutions and R&D Services, Adrian Brückner, PhD, adds, “What stood out to me in this run was not just theimpressive final performance numbers, but how straightforward and reliable the process proved to be under real operating conditions.The reaction was executed using a written, step-by-step protocol by an external team, and it performed exactly as intended. From a processperspective, that level of consistency - combined with high recovery, isolated yield, and purity at this scale - gives us confidencethat the system is not only scalable, but operationally robust and well suited for continued manufacturing development. Importantly,this successful production of more than half a kilogram of pharma-grade purity NCT means that we’re now ready to share formulationsamples with relevant partners.”
NCT has historically been difficult to supply at scale in purified form. Cell-based production methods commonly co-produce N-trans-feruloyltyramine (NFT), a closely related compound that has been reported in the scientific literature to exhibit different activity profiles from NCT in certain in-vitro and preclinical research settings, which can complicate interpretation when both compounds are present. Because of their close structural similarity, separating NFT from NCT is also costly. The exozyme-based process avoids these limitations, enabling direct production of highly pure NCT without co-production challenges.
Looking ahead, eXoZymes expects 2026 to focus on establishing a commercial NCT supply chain, expanding production volumes, forming strategic partnerships, and finalizing commercial technology-transfer packages. These efforts are expected to focus on improving manufacturing efficiency and scalability as eXoZymes and NCTx evaluate pathways toward sustainable commercial economics.
Formulationcan be shipped to partners
With isolated high-purity NCT now produced at pilot scale, eXoZymes is actively engaging with partners interested in formulation development, product validation, and application-specific testing. The availability of high-purity material enables partners to move beyond feasibility studies and into hands-on evaluation under relevant conditions. Companies seeking to explore potential use cases, assess performance, or initiate collaborative development discussions are invited to contact eXoZymes to request samples and discuss next steps, right here:
https://exozymes.com/partners
AboutCayman
Cayman Chemical helps make research possible by providing products and services to scientists worldwide. Cayman’s collection includes high-quality biochemicals, assay kits, antibodies, and proteins, empowering researchers to understand the biological mechanisms of health and disease and develop new therapies. Cayman’s scientists are experts in the synthesis, purification, and characterization of biochemicals ranging from small drug-like heterocycles to complex biolipids, and fatty acids, and is highly skilled in all aspects of assay and antibody development, protein expression, crystallization, and structure determination. In addition, Cayman offers a wide range of analytical services using LC-MS/MS, HPLC, GC, and many other techniques. Cayman performs generic drug development and production in both Ann Arbor, Michigan and Neratovice, Czech Republic.
Learn more at www.caymanchem.com
AbouteXoZymes
****Founded in 2019, the company has developed a biomanufacturing platform that - as a historic first - offers the tools and insights to design, engineer, control and optimize nature’s own natural processes to produce highly valuable natural products, via a commercially scalable, sustainable, and eco-friendly alternative: exozymes.
Exozymes are advanced enzymes enhanced through AI and bioengineering to thrive in a bioreactor without using living cells. Exozymes can replace toxic petrochemical processes and inefficient biochemical extraction with sustainable and scalable biosolutions that transform biomass into essential chemicals, nutraceuticals and medicines.
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 at exozymes.com
eXoZymesSafe 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,” “potential,” 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
https://www.linkedin.com/company/exozymes
https://x.com/exozymes
https://www.youtube.com/@exozymes