Description of Business	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Description of Business	Description of Business In these notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements, the "Company," "we," "us," and "our" refer to Codexis, Inc. and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. We develop biocatalysts for the pharmaceutical and fine chemicals markets. Our proven technologies enable scale-up and implementation of biocatalytic solutions to meet customer needs for rapid, cost-effective and sustainable process development, from research to manufacturing. Biocatalysts are enzymes that initiate and/or accelerate chemical reactions. Manufacturers have historically used naturally occurring biocatalysts to produce many goods used in everyday life. However, inherent limitations in naturally occurring biocatalysts have restricted their commercial use. Our proprietary CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform, which introduces genetic mutations into microorganisms in order to give rise to changes in enzymes that they produce, is able to overcome many of these limitations, allowing us to evolve and optimize biocatalysts to perform specific and desired chemical reactions at commercial scale. Once potentially beneficial mutations are identified through this proprietary process, combinations of these mutations can then be tested until variant enzymes have been created that exhibit marketable performance characteristics superior to competitive products. This process allows for continuous, efficient improvements to the performance of enzymes. In the past, we implemented the CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform through paid collaborations with our customers. In July 2014, we entered into our first license agreement pursuant to which we granted a license to GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”), a global pharmaceutical company, to use the CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform for its internal development purposes. In August 2015, we entered into a second license agreement involving the CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform with Merck Sharp and Dohme Corp., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada ("Merck"), a global pharmaceutical company, and we continue to pursue licensing opportunities with additional customers. We have commercialized our technology and products in the pharmaceuticals market, which is our primary business focus. Our customers, which include several large global pharmaceutical companies, use our technology, products and services in their manufacturing processes and process development. We also use our technology to develop biocatalysts for use in the fine chemicals market. The fine chemicals market consists of several large market verticals, including food, animal feed, flavors, fragrances, and agricultural chemicals. We are also using our technology to develop an early stage, novel enzyme therapeutic product candidate for the potential treatment of phenylketonuria ("PKU") in humans. PKU is an inherited metabolic disorder in which the enzyme that converts the essential amino acid phenylalanine into tyrosine is deficient. We are actively collaborating with new and existing customers in the pharmaceutical and other markets.

Description of Business

In these notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements, the "Company," "we," "us," and "our" refer to Codexis, Inc. and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis.

We develop biocatalysts for the pharmaceutical and fine chemicals markets. Our proven technologies enable scale-up and implementation of biocatalytic solutions to meet customer needs for rapid, cost-effective and sustainable process development, from research to manufacturing.

Biocatalysts are enzymes that initiate and/or accelerate chemical reactions. Manufacturers have historically used naturally occurring biocatalysts to produce many goods used in everyday life. However, inherent limitations in naturally occurring biocatalysts have restricted their commercial use. Our proprietary CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform, which introduces genetic mutations into microorganisms in order to give rise to changes in enzymes that they produce, is able to overcome many of these limitations, allowing us to evolve and optimize biocatalysts to perform specific and desired chemical reactions at commercial scale.

Once potentially beneficial mutations are identified through this proprietary process, combinations of these mutations can then be tested until variant enzymes have been created that exhibit marketable performance characteristics superior to competitive products. This process allows for continuous, efficient improvements to the performance of enzymes. In the past, we implemented the CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform through paid collaborations with our customers. In July 2014, we entered into our first license agreement pursuant to which we granted a license to GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”), a global pharmaceutical company, to use the CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform for its internal development purposes. In August 2015, we entered into a second license agreement involving the CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform with Merck Sharp and Dohme Corp., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada ("Merck"), a global pharmaceutical company, and we continue to pursue licensing opportunities with additional customers.

We have commercialized our technology and products in the pharmaceuticals market, which is our primary business focus. Our customers, which include several large global pharmaceutical companies, use our technology, products and services in their manufacturing processes and process development.

We also use our technology to develop biocatalysts for use in the fine chemicals market. The fine chemicals market consists of several large market verticals, including food, animal feed, flavors, fragrances, and agricultural chemicals.

We are also using our technology to develop an early stage, novel enzyme therapeutic product candidate for the potential treatment of phenylketonuria ("PKU") in humans. PKU is an inherited metabolic disorder in which the enzyme that converts the essential amino acid phenylalanine into tyrosine is deficient.

We are actively collaborating with new and existing customers in the pharmaceutical and other markets.