Cambium Biomaterials Announces Partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks to Accelerate Industrial Adoption of High-Performance Biomaterials

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Sep 02, 2021, 07:00 ET

BERKELEY, Calif. and BOSTON, Sept. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cambium Biomaterials ("Cambium"), the company creating high-performance biomaterials, today announced a partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc. ("Ginkgo"), which is building the leading horizontal platform for cell programming. Ginkgo, which recently announced a business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: SRNG), serves customers across industries seeking to develop new and better products using biology. The partnership will leverage Ginkgo's Codebase and high-throughput facility to accelerate Cambium's discovery, development, manufacturing and commercialization of biomaterials that deliver superior performance and sustainability across a range of industries.

Cambium designs new functional biomaterials and composites for use in diverse and extreme environments. Cambium will work with Ginkgo to explore a diverse set of bio-based molecules and develop a library of bio-building blocks to support the manufacture of innovative biomaterial end products, with the initial focus on materials that provide enhanced heat, flame, laser and sensor protection. By enabling the design of organisms that can produce valuable biological products, Ginkgo helps accelerate the development of innovative, bio-based solutions to the world's most pressing environmental challenges. This partnership deepens Ginkgo's involvement in the biomaterials space following the launch of recent cell programs with other leading biomaterials companies.

"Cambium is redefining biomaterials by creating high-performance products that deliver step changes in performance and sustainability to industries as diverse as aerospace and renewable energy," said Simon Waddington, CEO and co-founder at Cambium. "We are excited to work with Ginkgo to not only expand the universe of these materials but also explore how to make them biologically. We expect this partnership to grow our pipeline and accelerate our commercialization timeline."

"Ginkgo helps companies across industries use synthetic biology to produce better, more sustainable products," said Jason Kelly, CEO at Ginkgo Bioworks. "Product developers across the spectrum are looking for sustainable alternatives to petrochemical-based materials to achieve unmet performance needs. Biomaterials are proving to be even higher-performing than petrochemical-based alternatives, and we are excited to support startups like Cambium as they grow and bring next-gen biomaterials to market."

About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo is building a platform to enable customers to program cells as easily as we can program computers. The company's platform is enabling biotechnology applications across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to industrial chemicals to pharmaceuticals. Ginkgo has also actively supported a number of COVID-19 response efforts, including K-12 pooled testing, vaccine manufacturing optimization and therapeutics discovery. In May 2021, Ginkgo announced a business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: SRNG), which, if completed, will result in Ginkgo, through a parent entity, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc., becoming a public company. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, and other customary closing conditions. For more information, visit www.ginkgobioworks.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
[email protected]

INVESTOR CONTACTS:
[email protected]

About Cambium:
Cambium is a San Francisco Bay Area-based company leading the discovery, development and rapid uptake of end-use products enabled with high-performance biomaterials. By leveraging its deep domain expertise, and the convergence of synthetic biology, materials science, computation and automation, Cambium is advancing applications based on new high-performance biomaterials that solve important real-world problems in demanding applications that can't be solved by currently available materials — across the spectrum from aerospace to EVs to defense. For more information go to cambiomat.com.

ADDITIONAL LEGAL INFORMATION

Forward-Looking Statements Legend of Ginkgo

This document contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws with respect to the proposed transaction between Ginkgo and Soaring Eagle, including statements regarding the benefits of the transaction, the anticipated timing of the transaction, the services offered by Ginkgo and the markets in which it operates, and Ginkgo's projected future results. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "potential," "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 document, including but not limited to: (i) the risk that the transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect the price of Soaring Eagle's securities, (ii) the risk that the transaction may not be completed by Soaring Eagle's business combination deadline and the potential failure to obtain an extension of the business combination deadline if sought by Soaring Eagle, (iii) the failure to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the transaction, including the adoption of the agreement and plan of merger by the shareholders of Soaring Eagle and Ginkgo, the satisfaction of the minimum trust account amount following redemptions by Soaring Eagle's public shareholders and the receipt of certain governmental and regulatory approvals, (iv) the lack of a third party valuation in determining whether or not to pursue the proposed transaction, (v) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the agreement and plan of merger, (vi) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transaction on Ginkgo business relationships, performance, and business generally, (vii) risks that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans of Ginkgo and potential difficulties in Ginkgo employee retention as a result of the proposed transaction, (viii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Ginkgo or against Soaring Eagle related to the agreement and plan of merger or the proposed transaction, (ix) the ability to maintain the listing of Soaring Eagle's securities on Nasdaq, (x) volatility in the price of Soaring Eagle's securities due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo plans to operate, variations in performance across competitors, changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business and changes in the combined capital structure, (xi) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after the completion of the proposed transaction, and identify and realize additional opportunities, and (xii) the risk of downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology. 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 Soaring Eagle's proxy statement/prospectus relating to the transaction, and in Soaring Eagle's other filings with the SEC. Soaring Eagle and Ginkgo caution that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. Soaring Eagle and Ginkgo caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Neither Soaring Eagle nor Ginkgo undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This document relates to a proposed transaction between Ginkgo and Soaring Eagle. This document does not constitute an offer to sell or exchange, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or exchange, any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or exchange would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. In connection with the proposed transaction, Soaring Eagle filed a proxy statement on August 13, 2021. The proxy statement has been sent to all Soaring Eagle shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 10, 2021. Soaring Eagle also will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. Before making any voting decision, investors and security holders of Soaring Eagle and Ginkgo are urged to read the registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction as they become available because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction.

Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC by Soaring Eagle through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. In addition, the documents filed by Soaring Eagle may be obtained free of charge by written request to Soaring Eagle at 955 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10075, Attention: Eli Baker, Chief Financial Officer, (310) 209-7280.

Participants in Solicitation

Soaring Eagle's and Ginkgo and their respective directors and officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Soaring Eagle's shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about Soaring Eagle's directors and executive officers and their ownership of Soaring Eagle's securities is set forth in Soaring Eagle's filings with the SEC. To the extent that holdings of Soaring Eagle's securities have changed since the amounts printed in Soaring Eagle's proxy statement, such changes have been or will be reflected on Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC. Additional information regarding the interests of those persons and other persons who may be deemed participants in the proposed transaction may be obtained by reading the proxy statement/prospectus regarding the proposed transaction when it becomes available. You may obtain free copies of these documents as described in the preceding paragraph.

SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks