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):
June26, 2025
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. ☐
Item1.01 — Entry into Material Agreement.
eXoZymes Inc. (the “Company”) has been selected to participate in the Meta-PURE initiative, a National Science Foundation (“NSF”) funded project under the CFIRE (Cell-Free Systems Toward Increased Range of Use-Inspired Applications) program aimed at transforming the scalability and accessibility of cell-free systems to expand real-world applications. The project coalition of partner enterprises is being led by The Georgia Institute of Technology. Meta-PURE will build a suite of standardized, interoperable ‘modules’ for cell-free biomanufacturing, enabling plug-and-play modules that can rapidly shift between use cases - from high-value nutraceuticals, to essential chemicals or pharmaceuticals. Meta-PURE is part of the CFIRE program and supported under Cooperative Agreement No. 2452482.
eXoZymes will serve as the key industrial partner with Meta-PURE, with an approximate $3 million share of the total project award of $9.2 million. The project will commence July 1, 2025, and will run for three years.
eXoZymes will develop a cell free ATP-generating module - essentially a cell-free power plant - that fuels different chemical production modules to be developed now and in the future, supporting cell-free manufacturing of several market-relevant targets. eXoZymes’s technology permits decoupling the power module from the production module, enabling faster reaction times, greater product yields, and making the development of production modules more accessible for our coalition partners across a broad spectrum of synthetic biology applications. The other coalition partners will develop targets spanning a wide range of complexity and markets, relying on eXoZymes’ plug-and-play cell-free power plant, which will be tested and optimized to both purified and lysate-based exozymes biosolutions to ensure compatibility and performance.
eXoZymes’ role also includes developing a production module for santalene, an extremely high-value fragrance compound, traditionally extracted from sandalwood for use in aromatherapy and traditional medicine formulations. Derivates of santalene have been investigated in pharmaceutical use cases.
| Item 9.01. | Financial Statements and Exhibits. |
|---|---|
| (d) | Exhibits |
| --- | --- |
| Exhibits | Description<br> of Exhibit |
| --- | --- |
| 99.1 | Press release dated June 26, 2025 regarding participation in CFIRE program |
| 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: | June<br> 26, 2025 | EXOZYMES<br> INC. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| By | /s/ Fouad Nawaz | ||
| Fouad<br> Nawaz, | |||
| Vice<br> President, Finance |
Exhibit99.1
eXoZymesselected as core industry partner in $9M NSF-funded initiative to advance modular cell-free biomanufacturing
Monrovia,CA — June 26, 2025 — Today, eXoZymes Inc. (NASDAQ: EXOZ) (“eXoZymes”) - a pioneer of AI-engineered enzymes thatcan transform sustainable feedstock into nutraceuticals, medicines, and other essential chemicals - announced its role in the Meta-PUREinitiative, a $9.2 million USD National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project under the CFIRE program aimed at transforming thescalability and accessibility of cell-free systems to expand real-world applications.
Led by Georgia Tech with a coalition of top academic and industry groups, Meta-PURE will build a suite of standardized, interoperable ‘modules’ for cell-free biomanufacturing, enabling plug-and-play modules that can rapidly shift between use cases - from high-value nutraceuticals, to essential chemicals or pharmaceuticals. eXoZymes’ contribution builds on its proven ability to design complex enzyme cascades that operate outside of cells at unprecedented yields.
“Ourjob in Meta-PURE is to build a cell-free power plant - an ATP-generating module that other teams can plug into to drive their own productionmodules,” said Dr. Paul Opgenorth, co-founder of eXoZymes and co-principal investigator on the award. Dr. Opgenorth continues, “By decoupling the power module from the production module, we’re enabling faster reaction times, greater product yields,and making the development of production modules more accessible for our partners across a broad spectrum of synthetic biology applications.”
For Meta-PURE, eXoZymes - formerly known as Invizyne Technologies - will serve as the key industrial partner, with a $3 million share of the total award, and will develop a cell free ATP-generating module - essentially a cell-free power plant - that fuels different chemical production modules to be developed now and in the future, supporting cell-free manufacturing of several market-relevant targets.
In addition, eXoZymes’ role also includes developing a production module for santalene, an extremely high-value fragrance compound, traditionally extracted from sandalwood for use in aromatherapy and traditional medicine formulations. Furthermore, derivates of santalene have been investigated in pharmaceutical use cases.
Other coalition partners will develop targets spanning a wide range of complexity and markets, but all relying on eXoZymes’ plug-and-play cell-free power plant, which will be tested and optimized to both purified and lysate-based exozymes biosolutions to ensure compatibility and performance.
Aboutthe Meta-PURE Initiative
Meta-PURE is part of NSF Advancing Cell-Free Systems Toward Increased Range of Use-Inspired Applications (CFIRE) program and supported under Cooperative Agreement No. 2452482. It is designed to lay foundational infrastructure for a flexible, cost-effective, and robust U.S. bioeconomy. Work under this program will commence on July 1, 2025 and will run for three years.
Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.
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 chemical compounds, enabling the company’s partners to replace traditional petro-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
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.
eXoZymescontact
Lasse Görlitz, VP of Communications
(858) 319-7135
press@exozymes.com