Monrovia, CA -- May 6, 2025 -- Today, eXoZymes Inc. (NASDAQ: EXOZ) (“eXoZymes”) - a pioneer of AI-engineered enzymes that can transform sustainable feedstock into nutraceuticals, medicines, and other essential chemicals—announced the formation of ‘NCTx, LLC’ (NCTx), a dedicated spin-out company focused on the development and production of N-trans-

caffeoyltyramine—a very rare, plant-derived compound with emerging relevance in the areas of metabolic health, gut integrity, and liver function. 

To date, NCT has not been available at commercially viable qualities and quantities. Naturally found in quantities less than 0.0015 grams per hemp plant, its commercial use has been severely limited despite its immense potential. Using eXoZymes’ AI-driven exozymes platform, NCTx has a new and proprietary approach - patent pending - to biomanufacture NCT with all the scale-up advantages of an exozyme biosolution. 

CEO of eXoZymes and interim CEO of NCTx, Michael Heltzen, states, "To me, the 'x' in NCTx represents all the new-to-nature analogs of NCT that only exozymes can unlock via BioClick and other proprietary tools in our ‘enzymes x AI’ tech stack. With time, this could start a new gold rush era for AI-designed and engineered small molecules in pharma, as our platform has the potential to revisit most existing natural product compounds and drug targets with the promise of producing new and better analogs and derivatives, with new therapeutic potential and features. The potential upside here is multiple billion-dollar markets, so needless to say, we're very enthusiastic about the prospects of this next generation of small molecule engineering and biomanufacturing – and this spin-out is only the first of many more." 

Chief Commercial Officer at eXoZymes, Damien Perriman, adds, "Launching NCTx is a milestone in going from idea to demonstrated target – a breakthrough in speed for biomanufacturing innovation. Proof of concept was completed in 6 weeks, and the spin-out assembled in 12 weeks – a speed of development I have not seen before in synthetic biology. And it's not just a lucky one-off instance, as we have repeated the study 25 times to validate our proprietary exozyme biosolution to produce NCT. With this proof of concept in hand, we are well-positioned to advance through scale-up and start providing samples for our future nutraceutical and pharmaceutical partners.  

Demand for bioactive ingredients in functional food is a $216 bn market and yearly growing at 7.6% CAGR globally.  

NCT has attracted growing interest from researchers for its potential role in supporting healthy liver fat metabolism, gut barrier function, and mitochondrial activity—all of which are associated with broader metabolic and inflammatory processes. Preclinical studies have shown: 

• Enhanced fat breakdown and mitochondrial output in liver cells 
• No observed toxicity in short-term animal models 
• NAFLD (now called MASLD) treatment candidate potential 
• Modulation of gut-related gene expression linked to intestinal balance 

For more information, please go to nctx.one