BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Inscripta™, a
leading gene-editing technology company, today announced the
strategic acquisition of Solana Biosciences, a life sciences
company founded by Illumina™ (NASDAQ: ILMN) veterans. Through the
acquisition, Inscripta and Solana have joined forces to accelerate
the commercialization of Inscripta's suite of gene-editing
technology tools. Inscripta's acquisition of Solana assembles an
elite, life-sciences product development and manufacturing pipeline
for precision gene editing.
Inscripta is advancing genomic research by providing a full
suite of CRISPR-based genome-editing and tracking technologies to
researchers, allowing genome editing of living cells to be simple,
efficient, and robust. The company has also developed a unique
family of CRISPR enzymes (MADzymes) and is creating additional
enzymes, reagents, instruments, and software with improved
capabilities for multiple genome-editing applications.
"Inscripta is building the tools to take on the next frontier of
gene-editing discoveries. The addition of the Solana team brings
world-class scientific product development, manufacturing, and
operations experience to further enable Inscripta to provide the
best gene-editing tools to both commercial and academic
researchers," said Kevin Ness, CEO
of Inscripta.
Solana Biosciences was founded in 2017 by a team of former
Illumina employees that has guided the launch and production of
hundreds of products – including market-leading DNA
sequencing solutions. During their time at Illumina, Solana's
founders and team members successfully built adaptable and scalable
manufacturing operations, enabling the rapid growth of innovative
products that today represent billions of dollars in annual
revenue.
"Solana is passionate about creating and introducing innovative
tools to the life sciences industry. We are excited to join a team
of top scientists and developers at Inscripta to further empower
researchers in the emerging gene-editing field," said Tom Rosso, co-founder of Solana Biosciences and
former vice president of operations at Illumina. "Together, our
team will design, build, and commercialize a new suite of tools
that will revolutionize life sciences."
Following the acquisition, Mr. Rosso will become vice president
of operations at Inscripta and will lead the process development,
technology transfer, manufacturing, and operations teams at the
company. In addition, Inscripta will expand operations and obtain a
new office in the life sciences hub of San Diego.
"From my days at Illumina, I know the people behind Solana, and
I can say that they will bring unparalleled expertise and
experience to Inscripta, helping the company grow, diversify, and
scale its operations to meet the rapidly advancing needs of the
gene-editing industry," said John
Stuelpnagel, chairman of Inscripta's board of directors, and
co-founder and first CEO of Illumina. "With the addition of
Solana's talent and capabilities, I am confident that Inscripta
will fundamentally transform genome writing, just as Illumina did
for genome reading."
ABOUT INSCRIPTA
Inscripta is a gene-editing technology
company that puts researchers in control by making it easy for them
to get all they need for cutting-edge, forward cell-engineering.
These tools include a family of CRISPR enzymes (called MADzymes),
custom nucleases for researchers and commercial partners, and a
full suite of gene-editing tools (instruments, reagents, and
software) that will significantly increase the speed and efficiency
of multiplexed, precision gene editing. By removing the barriers to
forward cell-engineering and gene-editing research, Inscripta will
usher in a new era of advances to revolutionize how we feed, fuel,
and heal humanity.
Inscripta has introduced two unique CRISPR enzymes, MAD7 and
MAD2, as part of the company's own MADzyme family. Recently, the
USPTO granted Inscripta patents covering the use of both of the
MADzymes in editing systems in multiple cell types, including
microbes, plants, and mammalian systems. The company introduced its
MAD7 enzyme to commercial and academic researchers with no up-front
licensing fees or "reach-through royalties" on products made using
the technology. This unique approach was the first step in the
company's path to re-shape forward genome engineering and make it
more accessible for the research and commercial community.
Inscripta is led by several genomic technology veterans
including CEO Kevin Ness, who
co-founded QuantaLife and 10x Genomics, and John Stuelpnagel, the chairman of the company's
board, who was co-founder and first CEO of Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN)
and chairman of 10x Genomics. Inscripta is headquartered in
Boulder, Colo.; has offices in
Pleasanton, Calif.; and is backed
by Venrock, MLS Capital, NanoDimension, Foresite, Paladin Capital
Group, and Mérieux Développement. For more information, visit:
www.inscripta.com.
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SOURCE Inscripta