Codexis appoints legal chief

Nasdaq-listed Codexis has appointed Margaret Fitzgerald as chief legal officer and general counsel. She now heads up the enzyme engineering company’s legal and compliance functions and reports to Codexis president and CEO Dr Stephen Dilly.

Fitzgerald most recently was general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer at Allakos. In that role she provided legal advice on securities, litigation, intellectual property strategy, clinical development and commercialization matters.

Before her time at Allakos, Fitzgerald was associate general counsel and privacy officer at Aimmune Therapeutics. Previously, she was vice president of corporate law at ZS Pharma. In that role she chaired negotiations leading to the $2.7 bn sale of ZS Pharma to AstraZeneca. Earlier in her career, she held senior leadership roles at Genentech, most recently as associate general counsel and director of transactional law.

Before moving in-house, Fitzgerald worked as an associate with law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

Dilly says in a statement: ‘Meg is a seasoned legal executive and leader with extensive experience on both routine and complex legal matters. [She] brings invaluable legal and business expertise across product development, commercial launches, compliance and intellectual property. I am excited to welcome Meg to the team.’