- The Ginkgo Technology Network brings together over 25 diverse
partners across an array of capabilities including AI, genetic
medicines, biologics, and manufacturing
- Ginkgo plans to integrate the technological capabilities of its
network partners to provide customers with more robust end-to-end
solutions to drive successful R&D outcomes across biological
end markets
- Based on strong initial customer feedback, Ginkgo expects to
add new partners to the network over time, expanding this
integrated offering and helping eliminate the siloing and
switching costs that limit R&D progress today
BOSTON, Feb. 28,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE:
DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming
and biosecurity, today announced the creation of the Ginkgo
Technology Network - a groundbreaking ecosystem of cutting edge
technology partners, each committed to collaborating with Ginkgo to
provide new, integrated capabilities to drive success in customer
R&D programs.
For over 15 years, Ginkgo has invested in building and
integrating horizontal platform technologies to serve a diverse set
of customer programs and needs with efficient and powerful
services. Beyond Ginkgo's homegrown capabilities, Ginkgo has
acquired over a dozen companies and has deep strategic partnerships
with many others in the broader biotechnology ecosystem. As such,
Ginkgo is uniquely experienced as a systems integrator,
offering customers a robust set of services within a unified
R&D experience. Ginkgo is excited to expand this integrated
capability set to include a diverse network of technology partners,
providing customers access to a much more extensive suite of
cutting edge technologies – all powered and enhanced by Ginkgo's
flexible automation and data, and integrated into comprehensive
programs.
Jason Kelly, CEO and
co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks: "It's time to eliminate the
difficult - and importantly, false - choices our customers face
when they are deciding how to grow new products with biology. With
the Ginkgo Technology Network, our customers don't have to wrestle
on their own with the integration of different vendors or, worse,
prematurely choose an approach for biological designs or analysis.
Our customers give us some of their toughest problems to solve, and
we have seen that unbiased and integrated R&D approaches
coupled with experimentation at scale is the most powerful approach
for biological engineering. Our customers are creating
groundbreaking – and in many cases lifesaving – products, and they
deserve the best tools available to drive success in those
programs. We're proud to put the full force of our automated
Foundry behind the technologies that our network partners are
bringing to the table."
One of the core focus areas for the Technology Network today is
AI. As more companies seek to leverage the latest tools in
generative AI, having an integrated approach to R&D and
building robust feedback loops into computational models has become
a critical differentiator, helping to determine project success.
Integrating partner models and AI capabilities with Ginkgo's
automation stack can help network partners build more robust models
that benefit from additional training data and reinforcement
learning. Ginkgo is excited to bring this closed-loop capability to
network partners and to current and future customers.
Anna Marie Wagner, SVP, Head
of AI and Head of Corporate Development, at Ginkgo
Bioworks: "Perhaps one of the most unique capabilities
that Ginkgo has developed over the years is the ability to
integrate many diverse computational and experimental technologies
to deliver on complex customer needs at the bleeding edge of
innovation across many product classes. There are no silver bullets
yet in biological design and making progress will require
collaboration. I believe strongly in connecting AI with physical
experimentation and so I am excited about the breadth of partners
we are bringing on across these areas. It's clear that even the
best AI models benefit tremendously from access to relevant labeled
data and it's equally clear that experimental designs are
dramatically improved with input from AI. I'm grateful to our
inaugural network partners for taking this journey with us. The
opportunities in biology are too great and the challenges too
complex for us to take this journey alone."
Ginkgo's inaugural cohort of technology network partners
includes, in alphabetical order:
310.ai is accelerating scientific discovery by
giving scientists access to state-of-the art AI via a user-friendly
chat interface. 310's platform, 310 CoPilot ties together
proprietary AI, industry-standard models, databases,
visualizations, and analytics all in one user-friendly chat
interface. This enables customers across industries (biotech,
pharmaceutical, cosmetics, etc.) to design novel molecules and
bring higher performing solutions to market faster.
Advanced Medicine Partners delivers what patients
deserve and what regulators expect, providing process development,
manufacturing, analytical development and testing for advanced
medicines, specializing in viral vectors for gene and cell
therapies. AMP's proprietary AAV manufacturing process minimizes
impurities and generates industry-leading functional full capsid
ratios. AMP brings extensive operational experience and has
manufactured 350+ non-GMP batches and supplied 20+ preclinical
studies, including IND-enabling efficacy and GLP toxicology. GMP
capacity is expected to be available in Q1 2025.
Avecris has developed SPRING DNA, a non-viral gene
delivery system which enables next-generation genetic medicines.
SPRING is a transformational platform technology that enables
non-viral DNA delivery while precisely regulating gene expression
in a cell-type specific way. SPRING is programmable, modular,
redosable, stable and sustained.
BioMap is a leading AI company dedicated to driving
innovation in the life sciences sector, leveraging AI to unmask
nature's rules and generate proteins for a wide range of
therapeutic and industrial applications. BioMap is a pioneer in
Large Biology Language Models, having developed the world's largest
100Bn+ parameters biology foundation model, xTrimo, trained on a
vast array of multi-dimensional biological data. Combined
with a proprietary fine-tuning platform, BioMap can rapidly deploy
high-performance task models to support innovation across any
horizontal protein design domain or modality. BioMap's AI
capabilities are supplemented with a leading team of scientists,
disease experts and cutting-edge high-throughput labs. BioMap
empowers its partners's R&D ambitions by enabling them to build
their own AI models with limited data and leverage BioMap's AI
Generated Protein (AIGP) Platform to design novel proteins for
frontier healthcare, industry and sustainability needs.
BioSymetrics is a phenomics-driven drug discovery
company that integrates clinical and experimental data, using
machine learning, to translate human disease biology and advance
precision medicines. The company builds translation upfront, using
AI and in vivo validation to rapidly discover higher-confidence
targets and precision medicines.
bit.bio is a synthetic biology company focused on
human cells, advancing medicine and enabling curative treatments.
bit.bio's opti-ox™ precision cell programming technology enables
conversion of induced pluripotent stem cells into any desired human
cell type in a single step, at industrial scale, while maintaining
exceptional purity and consistency. The ioCells™ research cell
product portfolio is opening up new possibilities in research and
drug discovery.
Catena Biosciences was spun out of the Doudna and
Francis laboratories at UC Berkeley to enable multiple payloads on
a single antibody along with flexibility of several conjugation
sites per antibody. Coupled with superior stability, this creates a
targeted combination approach that can deliver potent efficacy with
a superior toxicity profile to address significant unmet needs in
the antibody drug conjugate (ADC) market.
Ceres Nanosciences makes innovative products that
capture and concentrate low-abundance analytes from biological
samples, enabling early and accurate detection of diseases.
Cradle's software solution empowers biology R&D
teams with generative Machine Learning models to design better
proteins, faster. Through extensive benchmarking and in-house
wet-lab validation, Cradle's models learn iteratively from small
datasets. Cradle's models are able to handle multi property
optimization and grow more powerful after every experimental round.
As a result, R&D teams that use the Cradle platform need
substantially less experimental rounds to meet or exceed a
protein's target product profiles. Customers gain access to the
platform through a transparent subscription-based pricing model and
retain full IP of generated proteins.
Cube Biotech provides a comprehensive range of products
and services that address the full spectrum of protein research,
from expression and purification to characterization and
stabilization.
Culture Biosciences utilizes innovative cloud-connected
bioreactors and data science capabilities driving the digital
transformation of biomanufacturing. Culture's real-time data
analysis and data-driven modeling capabilities enable clients to
accelerate their biomanufacturing screening and optimization
work.
EVQLV helps researchers working in antibodies, CARs,
bi/multi-specifics, and ADCs who want to quickly incorporate AI to
address discovery and engineering challenges.
FabricNano is a biotechnology company
developing a way to transform industrial chemical processes using
cell-free biomanufacturing. Its advanced, flexible and
easily-scalable platform produces highly stable and performant
biocatalysts to enable profitable production of sustainable and
bio-based chemicals.
Form Bio provides award-winning software and AI
solutions for cell and gene therapy leaders. By combining data,
technology and expertise, Form's solutions accelerate timelines
from discovery to clinic by providing drug developers with rapid
in silico characterization, prediction, simulation and
optimization of their therapeutics—enabling higher yields, enhanced
safety and shorter, less expensive development cycles. With
cross-disciplinary expertise spanning software engineering,
biology, bioinformatics and data science, the Form Bio team
collaborates closely with customers on their most pressing and
strategic challenges and opportunities.
Jumpcode Genomics uses its proprietary
CRISPRclean® technology to remove unwanted sequences,
allowing researchers worldwide to extract greater insights. The
company combines CRISPR-based technology and next-generation
sequencing (NGS) to search for novel signals, increase sensitivity,
and allow access to a range of sample types to broaden the
understanding of human biology in fields from research to clinical
applications including infectious disease and oncology.
Leveragen is a Boston-based biotech company developing
next-generation humanized mouse models for antibody discovery and
therapeutic biologics. Leveragen's flagship innovation, the
Singularity Sapiens mouse, marks significant progress in the
development of single-domain antibodies (sdAbs), also known as
nanobodies. The compact size and modular structure of sdAbs make
them exceptionally versatile for constructing a broad range of
biologics, including multispecific and multivalent antibodies,
antibody drug conjugates, as well as key components for mRNA and
cell therapies.
Mana Bio is a drug
delivery platform, leveraging AI/ML-based tools to design lipid
nanoparticles (LNPs) for delivery of genetic medicines including
DNA and RNA-based therapeutics and vaccines.
Mediphage has developed a proprietary and scalable
manufacturing process using E.coli to produce ministring DNAᵀᴹ
(msDNAᵀᴹ), a high-fidelity linear covalently closed (LCC) DNA
vector. msDNA can be used across a broad range of gene therapy
modalities, including redosable non-viral gene therapy, in vivo and
ex vivo gene editing, DNA vaccines, and as a starting material for
the manufacturing of high fidelity viral vectors (rAAV, lentiviral)
and mRNA.
Medium Biosciences has a mission to build the
fastest and most accurate models of biology to cure all diseases,
better understand nature and create lasting abundance. Its software
platform uses custom AI models to help customers create novel,
better biomolecules by simulating their biophysical properties and
identifying the most promising ones to be tested in the lab.
Menten.ai is developing generative AI to design
next-generation cyclic peptide therapeutics for challenging drug
targets beyond the reach of small molecules and biologics. It's the
first platform capable of designing potent and membrane-permeable
macrocycles in a matter of days. The team has shown in vitro and in
vivo validation of their platform for complex drug targets
including protein-protein interfaces (PPIs) and intracellular
targets.
NeuImmune is a biopharmaceutical company developing
innovative vaccines and biopharmaceuticals through precision
glycoengineering and delivery of biologics that address important
medical and public health needs. The company is committed to
providing safe and more effective prophylactic and therapeutic
treatments based on its novel biomanufacturing and delivery
platforms.
Phase Genomics develops cutting-edge tools for
discovery and diagnostics in cancer and infectious disease, using
their proprietary ultra-long-range genome sequencing technology.
Their microbiome discovery platform enables the deepest view of
complex microbial communities possible with current tools.
Phase Genomics has generated the largest atlas of bacteriophage and
antibiotic resistance reservoirs and is applying this information
to combat microbial threats and isolate therapeutic proteins.
ProteoNic offers premium vector technology driving high
level production of biologics as well as increased viral titers for
cell and gene therapy applications. The technology is broadly
applicable across cell lines and product classes, including complex
molecules which are difficult to express by conventional
technology. Application of this technology is designed to enable
production of complex molecules at economically viable levels,
resolve capacity constraints and reduce manufacturing costs.
Applied to viral vectors, it has the capacity to resolve
bottlenecks currently associated with lentiviral and AAV
production.
Resilience is a technology-focused biomanufacturing
company dedicated to broadening access to complex medicines.
Founded in 2020, the company is building a sustainable network of
high-tech, end-to-end manufacturing solutions across biologics,
vaccines, nucleic acids, cell and gene therapy to ensure the
treatments of today and tomorrow can be made quickly, safely,
andat-scale. By continuously advancing the science of
biopharmaceutical manufacturing and development, Resilience
seeks to free its partners to focus on the discoveries that
improve patients' lives and protect biopharmaceutical supply
chains against future disruptions.
Synplogen is a synthetic biology startup spun out of
Kobe University's Graduate School
of Science, Technology and Innovation that provides custom DNA
synthesis and gene therapy biofoundry services.
Turbine AI is building the world's first
predictive simulation of patient biology to empower the biopharma
industry by informing the right experiments that identify and
validate disease driver hidden effects. Turbine's Simulated
Cell™ is an interpretable cell simulation platform that captures
patient biology better than currently available models, and is used
for in silico experiments at scales impossible in physical assays.
The Simulated Cells can be integrated into all steps of biopharma
R&D to boost their likelihood of success, from identifying
novel targets invisible to high throughput biological screening to
optimally targeting existing therapies at the most responsive
patients.
WhiteLab Genomics is an AI-based platform for
discovery, design, and accelerated development of genomic
medicines. By leveraging their proprietary technology, WhiteLab
Genomics analyzes complex biological data powered by AI to
significantly reduce development timelines and mitigate associated
risks. Based on exhaustive datasets, the platform provides
in-silico simulations to discover, and design optimized payloads
and vectors.
Ginkgo does not have its own product portfolio. As a platform
company, Ginkgo makes customer-driven infrastructure investments
and is incentivized to make its tools and capabilities available to
customers. Ginkgo's programs require the integration of both
existing capabilities and new techniques and approaches, whether
that means investing in a novel high throughput assay design, a new
approach for editing cells, or a fine-tuned AI model to explore a
vast design space more efficiently. This approach to biology allows
customers to access a range of technical approaches rather than
feel constrained by the status quo.
Jennifer Wipf, SVP, Head of
Commercial - Cell Engineering at Ginkgo Bioworks: "I've never
felt more excited by the set of capabilities we are able to offer
our customers than I am today. There's nothing more important to me
than representing our customer's voice and bringing them better
solutions, because I've personally felt the pain of R&D
constraints and would have loved to have had an integrated,
end-to-end solution like the one we're building. Our mission is to
make biology easier to engineer, and that means continuously
evolving our platform as new technologies emerge. Between the
cutting-edge technologies we've acquired and our new Technology
Network committed to changing the paradigm for biotech R&D, our
customers don't have to settle for fragmented or sub-scale
solutions. I can't wait to hear what our customers will be able to
dream up with access to this Network and our full Foundry and
Codebase. 15 years in, they know that we're building a platform for
them and that we're committed to investing in the capabilities they
want and need."
To learn more about becoming a Network Partner, please visit our
website at http://ginkgobioworks.com/technology-network.
If you are interested in working with Ginkgo and one or more of
our Network Partners, please reach out to your Ginkgo
representative or email technet@ginkgobioworks.com.
About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell
programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve
challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and
agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty
chemicals. Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric
by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to
empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to
prevent, detect and respond to a wide variety of biological
threats. For more information, visit ginkgobioworks.com
and concentricbyginkgo.com, read our blog, or follow us
on social media channels such as X (@Ginkgo and @ConcentricByGBW),
Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks and @ConcentricByGinkgo), Threads
(@GinkgoBioworks) or LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including
statements regarding the capabilities and potential success of
Ginkgo's cell programming platform and the capabilities and
potential growth of the Ginkgo Technology Network. These
forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words
"believe," "can," "project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate,"
"estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan,"
"may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will
likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements
are predictions, projections and other statements about future
events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and,
as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors
could cause actual future events to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not
limited to: (i) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities due
to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and
highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo operates and plans to
operate, variations in performance across competitors, and changes
in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business, (ii) the
ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other
expectations, and to identify and realize additional business
opportunities, (iii) the risk of downturns in demand for products
using synthetic biology, (iv) the uncertainty regarding the demand
for passive monitoring programs and biosecurity services, (v)
changes to the biosecurity industry, including due to advancements
in technology, emerging competition and evolution in industry
demands, standards and regulations, (vi) our ability to realize the
expected benefits of merger and acquisition transactions, (vii) the
outcome of any legal proceedings against Ginkgo, including as a
result of recent acquisitions, (viii) our ability to realize the
expected benefits from and the success of our Foundry platform
programs, (ix) our ability to successfully develop engineered
cells, bioprocesses, data packages or other deliverables, and (x)
the product development or commercialization success of our
customers. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You
should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks
and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of
Ginkgo's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on November 8, 2023 and other documents filed by
Ginkgo from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and
address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual events and results to differ materially from those contained
in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak
only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put
undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ginkgo assumes no
obligation and does not intend to update or revise these
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events, or otherwise. Ginkgo does not give any assurance
that it will achieve its expectations.
GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR
CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA
CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
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