Description of Business	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Description of Business	Description of Business In these notes to the consolidated financial statements, the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refers to Codexis, Inc. and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. We discover, develop and sell proteins that deliver value to our clients in a growing set of industries. We view proteins as a vast untapped source of value-creating materials, and we are using our proven technologies, which we have been continuously improving over our fifteen-year history, to commercialize an increasing number of novel proteins, both as proprietary Codexis products and in partnership with our customers. Many companies have historically used naturally occurring proteins to produce or enhance goods used in everyday life. Despite the growing number of commercial applications of naturally occurring proteins across many industries, the inherent limitations of naturally-occurring proteins frequently restrict their commercial use. Through the application of our proprietary CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform, we are able to engineer novel proteins to overcome these restrictions, thereby adding value or opening up new prospects for our existing and potential customers’ products, processes or businesses. We have developed new proteins that are significantly more stable and/or active in our customers' commercial applications than proteins derived from nature. We are a pioneer in the harnessing of computational technologies to drive biology advancements. Over the last fifteen years, we have made substantial investments in the development of our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform, the primary source of our competitive advantage. Our technology platform is powered by proprietary, artificial intelligence-based, computational algorithms that rapidly mine our large and continuously growing library of protein variants’ performance attributes. These computational outputs enable increasingly reliable predictions for next generation protein variants to be engineered, enabling delivery of targeted performance enhancements in a time-efficient manner. In addition to its computational prowess, our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform integrates additional modular competencies, including robotic high-throughput screening and genomic sequencing, organic chemistry and process development, which are all coordinated to create our novel protein innovations. We use our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform to engineer custom enzymes. Most of our custom enzymes are intended for use as biocatalysts or protein catalysts. In simple terms, our protein catalysts can accelerate and/or improve yields of chemical reactions. We use our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform to develop novel enzymes that enable industrial biocatalytic reactions and fermentations. Our technology platform has enabled commercially viable products and processes for the manufacture of pharmaceutical intermediates and active ingredients and fine chemicals. Our approach to develop commercially viable biocatalytic manufacturing processes begins by conceptually designing the most cost-effective and practical process for a targeted product. We then develop optimized protein catalysts to enable that process design, using our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering platform technology. Engineered protein catalyst candidates, many thousands for each protein engineering project, are then rapidly screened and validated in high throughput under relevant manufacturing operating conditions. This approach results in an optimized protein catalyst enabling cost-efficient processes that typically are relatively simple to run in conventional manufacturing equipment. This also allows for the efficient technical transfer of our process to our manufacturing partners. The successful embodiment of our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform in commercial manufacturing processes requires well-integrated expertise in a number of technical disciplines. In addition to those directly involved in practicing our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering platform technology, such as molecular biology, enzymology, microbiology, cellular engineering, metabolic engineering, bioinformatics, biochemistry and high throughput analytical chemistry, our process development projects also involve integrated expertise in organic chemistry, chemical process development, chemical engineering, fermentation process development and fermentation engineering. Our integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to biocatalyst and process development is a critical success factor for our company. We initially commercialized our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform and products in the pharmaceuticals market, which remains 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 have also used the technology to develop protein catalysts for use in the fine chemicals market. The fine chemicals market consists of several large market verticals, including food and food ingredients, animal feed, flavors, fragrances and agricultural chemicals. More recently, we are also using the CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform to develop early stage, novel biotherapeutic product candidates, both for our customers and for our own business. Most notably, we are collaborating with a customer to develop CDX-6114, our lead program for the potential treatment of phenylketonuria ("PKU") disease in humans. PKU is an inherited metabolic disorder in which the enzyme that converts the essential amino acid phenylalanine into tyrosine is deficient. We have also used our technology to develop an enzyme for customers using next generation sequencing (“NGS”) and polymerase chain reaction (“PCR/qPCR”) for in vitro molecular diagnostic and genomic research applications. Beta testing for the enzyme was initiated in the second quarter of 2017.

Description of Business

In these notes to the consolidated financial statements, the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refers to Codexis, Inc. and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis.

We discover, develop and sell proteins that deliver value to our clients in a growing set of industries. We view proteins as a vast untapped source of value-creating materials, and we are using our proven technologies, which we have been continuously improving over our fifteen-year history, to commercialize an increasing number of novel proteins, both as proprietary Codexis products and in partnership with our customers.

Many companies have historically used naturally occurring proteins to produce or enhance goods used in everyday life. Despite the growing number of commercial applications of naturally occurring proteins across many industries, the inherent limitations of naturally-occurring proteins frequently restrict their commercial use. Through the application of our proprietary CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform, we are able to engineer novel proteins to overcome these restrictions, thereby adding value or opening up new prospects for our existing and potential customers’ products, processes or businesses. We have developed new proteins that are significantly more stable and/or active in our customers' commercial applications than proteins derived from nature.

We are a pioneer in the harnessing of computational technologies to drive biology advancements. Over the last fifteen years, we have made substantial investments in the development of our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform, the primary source of our competitive advantage. Our technology platform is powered by proprietary, artificial intelligence-based, computational algorithms that rapidly mine our large and continuously growing library of protein variants’ performance attributes. These computational outputs enable increasingly reliable predictions for next generation protein variants to be engineered, enabling delivery of targeted performance enhancements in a time-efficient manner. In addition to its computational prowess, our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform integrates additional modular competencies, including robotic high-throughput screening and genomic sequencing, organic chemistry and process development, which are all coordinated to create our novel protein innovations.

We use our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform to engineer custom enzymes. Most of our custom enzymes are intended for use as biocatalysts or protein catalysts. In simple terms, our protein catalysts can accelerate and/or improve yields of chemical reactions. We use our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform to develop novel enzymes that enable industrial biocatalytic reactions and fermentations. Our technology platform has enabled commercially viable products and processes for the manufacture of pharmaceutical intermediates and active ingredients and fine chemicals.

Our approach to develop commercially viable biocatalytic manufacturing processes begins by conceptually designing the most cost-effective and practical process for a targeted product. We then develop optimized protein catalysts to enable that process design, using our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering platform technology. Engineered protein catalyst candidates, many thousands for each protein engineering project, are then rapidly screened and validated in high throughput under relevant manufacturing operating conditions. This approach results in an optimized protein catalyst enabling cost-efficient processes that typically are relatively simple to run in conventional manufacturing equipment. This also allows for the efficient technical transfer of our process to our manufacturing partners.

The successful embodiment of our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform in commercial manufacturing processes requires well-integrated expertise in a number of technical disciplines. In addition to those directly involved in practicing our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering platform technology, such as molecular biology, enzymology, microbiology, cellular engineering, metabolic engineering, bioinformatics, biochemistry and high throughput analytical chemistry, our process development projects also involve integrated expertise in organic chemistry, chemical process development, chemical engineering, fermentation process development and fermentation engineering. Our integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to biocatalyst and process development is a critical success factor for our company.

We initially commercialized our CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform and products in the pharmaceuticals market, which remains 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 have also used the technology to develop protein catalysts for use in the fine chemicals market. The fine chemicals market consists of several large market verticals, including food and food ingredients, animal feed, flavors, fragrances and agricultural chemicals.

More recently, we are also using the CodeEvolver^® protein engineering technology platform to develop early stage, novel biotherapeutic product candidates, both for our customers and for our own business. Most notably, we are collaborating with a customer to develop CDX-6114, our lead program for the potential treatment of phenylketonuria ("PKU") disease in humans. PKU is an inherited metabolic disorder in which the enzyme that converts the essential amino acid phenylalanine into tyrosine is deficient.

We have also used our technology to develop an enzyme for customers using next generation sequencing (“NGS”) and polymerase chain reaction (“PCR/qPCR”) for in vitro molecular diagnostic and genomic research applications. Beta testing for the enzyme was initiated in the second quarter of 2017.