Codexis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDXS), a leading enzyme engineering company enabling the promise of synthetic biology, today announced the launch of its Codex® HiTemp Reverse Transcriptase for use in one-step quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). RT-qPCR is currently used widely for viral diagnostic tests, including SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification tests. This enzyme is specifically engineered and optimized for enhanced thermostability and robustness to address known challenges in handling clinical samples.

A reverse transcriptase is an essential enzyme for the naturally occurring process of reverse transcription, whereby an RNA sequence is converted into complementary DNA (cDNA). The enzyme converts the viral RNA into cDNA, which is then used as the template for the next step in the process, a follow-on quantitative PCR (qPCR). In life science applications, this reverse transcriptase is critical for the detection of RNA viruses.

Codex® HiTemp Reverse Transcriptase is specifically engineered to provide several key benefits in the RT-qPCR workflow, including:

• Enhanced thermostability (as high as 70°C) to tackle complicated RNA structures
• Improved robustness to address several known challenges when handling clinical samples, including sample degradation, stability at room temperature, varying pH conditions and the presence of impurities that can impact enzyme performance
• Faster turnaround time to complete a reverse transcription reaction in as little as five minutes, enabling the development of rapid protocols for viral diagnostic tests

“The COVID-19 pandemic has placed rapid and unprecedented demand on PCR testing for viral RNA, driving new supply chain and sample processing workflow challenges,” said John Nicols, President and CEO of Codexis. “Given the clear need to create an improved enzyme to reduce reaction time and mitigate some of the well-documented obstacles associated with clinical samples, I am proud of our team for taking action to develop and add Codex® HiTemp Reverse Transcriptase to our growing life science enzyme portfolio. We look forward to working with partners to incorporate this Codexis enzyme into their RNA detection toolbox.”

Codex® HiTemp Reverse Transcriptase is now available in bulk supply quantities. For more information, visit the product page: www.codexis.com/codex-hitemp-Reverse-Transcriptase.