Maxygen’s board is seeking shareholder approval to wind down and dissolve the company and distribute more than $68 million to stockholders.

The San Mateo, California-based company’s “molecular breeding” and gene shuffling technologies served as the seed for numerous, well-know biotech businesses, including Codexis, Verdia, and Avidia.

Maxygen sold Verdia to Dupont for $64 million in 2004 and Avidia to Amgen for $17.8 million in 2006. But while the company gained appreciation as a source of strong technology, it did not earn reputation for successful commercialization. [http://www.burrillreport.com/article-317.html]

In recent years, the company turned its focus to MAXY-G34, its experimental treatment for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and acute radiation syndrome. At the same time, it monetized other assets, returned more than $250 million in cash and property to its stockholders since 2009 through stock repurchases and distributions of cash and common stock in its spin-off, Codexis. But after failing to identify any potential transactions to advance MAXY-G34, it decided to seek out opportunities to pursue a merger, reverse merger, sale or other strategic transaction.

Maxygen sold most of its assets other than MAXY-G34 to Astellas Pharma in May 2011, when Astellas exercised a buy-out option it held on the now-shuttered Perseid Therapeutics, a joint venture the companies launched in 2009.

Maxygen had otherwise sold or distributed most of its other non-cash assets, according to a preliminary proxy filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissions in advance of its upcoming shareholder meeting.

Now, after “devoting substantial time and effort in identifying and pursing additional opportunities to enhance shareholder value,” Maxygen’s board of directors has approved the liquidation plans to distribute all available cash. The company’s board estimates that the initial distribution will total between $68.2 million and $69.6 million.

James Sulat will resign as the company’s CEO and CFO on June 30, with Isaac Stein, the executive chairman of the board, taking on those roles following Sulat’s departure. Meanwhile, until the dissolution is approved and executed, Maxygen shares will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market, where they closed up .81 percent June 6, at $2.50 per share.