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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):
June
25, 2026
EXOZYMES
INC.
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Nevada |
|
001-42204 |
|
83-4550057 |
(State
or other jurisdiction
of
incorporation) |
|
(Commission
File
Number) |
|
(I.R.S.
Employer
Identification
No.) |
750
Royal 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 communications
pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
| |
|
| ☐ |
Soliciting material pursuant
to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
| |
|
| ☐ |
Pre-commencement communications
pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) |
| |
|
| ☐ |
Pre-commencement 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 Stock |
|
EXOZ |
|
Nasdaq 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.
| Item 7.01 |
Regulation FD Disclosure |
On
June 24, 2026, the Company issued a press release announcing that it was being awarded a $2 Million NIH grant to advance cannaboinoid
analogs for drug discovery.
The
information contained in this Item 7.01 shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act, or the
Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.
| Item 9.01. |
Financial Statements
and Exhibits. |
(d)
Exhibits
| Exhibits |
|
Description
of Exhibit |
| |
|
|
| 99.1* |
|
Press Release, dated June 24, 2026 |
| |
|
|
| 104* |
|
Cover 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 25, 2026 |
EXOZYMES INC. |
| |
|
|
| |
By |
/s/
Fouad Nawaz |
| |
|
Fouad
Nawaz, |
| |
|
Vice
President, Finance |
Exhibit
99.1
eXoZymes
Awarded $2 Million NIH Grant to Advance Cannabinoid Analogs for Drug Discovery
Award
allows eXoZymes to expand its portfolio of proprietary new-to-nature molecules and potential future pharmaceutical assets and validates
the Company’s ability to make rare cannabinoids and new cannabinoid-like molecules.
NIH-backed
work on the two-year grant is expected to begin on July 1, 2026, and represents the second biosolution in eXoZymes’ pipeline after
NCT advancing towards partnership and commercialization.
Total
non-dilutive funding awarded to eXoZymes is now almost $20 million, validating the scalable nature of the Company’s platform
LOS
ANGELES, CA – June 24, 2026 – eXoZymes Inc. (NASDAQ: EXOZ) – a pioneer of
AI-enhanced enzymes that enable scalable manufacturing of nutraceuticals and novel pharmaceuticals – today announced that it has
received a Notice of Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
for a Phase IIB Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant totaling $2,028,518.
The
NIH funded work is expected to begin July 1, 2026, and will support eXoZymes’ program to make rare cannabinoids and engineer cannabinoid
analogs, which are modified versions of cannabinoids designed for pharmaceutical evaluation.
The
grant comes as rare and minor cannabinoids are drawing broader commercial attention with the U.S. minor cannabinoids market forecasted
to grow from approximately $11.5 billion in 2023 to $33.3 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately
15%.
The
anticipated market growth can be attributed to a large and expanding body of research that shows the endocannabinoid system in humans
is an unusually broad range of receptors, pointing to wide-ranging potential for clinical benefit. Yet, most rare cannabinoids with therapeutic
potential occur in plants only in trace amounts, and seldom at the purity needed for meaningful commercialization. eXoZymes’ cell-free
platform is designed to produce these molecules outside living cells reliably, abundantly, and at high purity to then use as starting
points for new analogs that can have improved drug-like properties.
“The
hardest part of cannabinoid drug discovery has always been a supply and purity problem - the most interesting molecules are the ones
nature makes the least of. Our platform is built to change that. Once we can reliably produce the naturally occurring cannabinoids, we
can engineer new-to-nature analogs around them that are more potent and better suited to pharmaceutical drug development than what is
available today,” said Michael Heltzen, CEO of eXoZymes, and continues, “After the profound progress we have made
with NCT, this award demonstrates how our patented cell-free approach now adds a second biosolution to our pipeline and creates new
opportunities for pharmaceutical partners. This is a key milestone that demonstrates our repeatable development engine of future licensing
and partnering opportunities - a key feature in creating additional proprietary molecules without diluting shareholders.”
Under
the awarded program, eXoZymes will pursue three primary objectives:
| |
1. |
Advanced
development of expression systems for cannabinoid cyclase enzymes. |
| |
2. |
Strategic
expansion of the range of analogs the company can produce. |
| |
3. |
Preclinical
evaluation of the Company’s existing cannabinoid library using established biological targets - receptor-binding assays - supported
by in-house scale capability. |
“As
indicated by the high growth rate of the rare cannabinoids market, we are witnessing a transition from an industry built around cultivating
and extracting a handful of naturally abundant cannabinoids to one powered by biotechnology and molecular design,” said Tyler
Korman, PhD, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of eXoZymes and Principal Investigator on the award.
Korman
continues, “Rare cannabinoids show great promise, but researchers have been severely limited by supply. Our goal is to develop
proprietary enzyme-based manufacturing technologies designed to produce rare and novel plant-derived cannabinoids at pharmaceutical grade.
These capabilities can then lead to a pipeline of drug candidates targeting significant unmet medical needs and generate the preclinical
data required to advance them toward the clinic. This work is challenging and the NIH support helps us accelerate development with scientific
rigor to open up a much larger landscape of molecules that could become tomorrow’s medicines.”
The
grant, titled “SimplePath IIB: Pre-clinical Development of Cannabinoid Analogs” is funded through the National
Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and includes $1,034,289 for the initial budget period and $994,229 for the second year,
subject to continued progress and funding availability. eXoZymes will serve as the prime award recipient, with co-founder and CSO Dr.
Tyler Korman serving as Principal Investigator. The program includes a sub-award to the laboratory of Dr. Vikram Shende at Occidental
College. The award brings total non-dilutive funding awarded to eXoZymes and its predecessor programs to $19.7 million.
Funding
Acknowledgment
Research
reported in this release was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under
Award Number R44GM159516. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views
of the National Institutes of Health.
About
eXoZymes
Founded
in 2019, eXoZymes is pioneering a cell-free biomanufacturing platform that uses AI-enhanced enzymes - called exozymes - to make valuable
natural products and new analogs outside living cells. The company’s platform is designed to replace inefficient extraction and
petrochemical processes with a scalable way to produce high-value molecules for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical markets.
eXoZymes
is building a portfolio of biosolutions across cannabinoid analogs, santalene and other high-value molecules, with potential commercialization
paths that include partnerships, licensing and joint ventures. Learn more at 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,”
“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 Comms & IR
(858)
319-7135
press@exozymes.com
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