Ginkgo Bioworks and Syngenta Seeds Announce Collaboration to Develop New Traits for the Next Generation of Seed Technology

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Apr 17, 2023, 07:00 ET

Partnership will leverage Ginkgo's cell programming capabilities to support Syngenta's ongoing seeds R&D pipeline efforts

BOSTON, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, and Syngenta Seeds ("Syngenta"), one of the world's leading agricultural technology companies, today announced a research partnership focused on screening a targeted genetic library for novel trait discovery. The results of this research are intended to inform future seed trait development so that farmers can grow healthier and more resilient crops.

Under the collaboration agreement, Ginkgo and Syngenta will work together by leveraging Ginkgo's extensive protein engineering capabilities and proprietary ultra high-throughput screening technologies to complement and accelerate Syngenta's efforts to design and develop innovative plant traits.

Innovative research partnerships of this kind are becoming more common in agriculture as the industry better understands the value of seeking out collaborations of all types and cross-pollinating expertise and capabilities across diverse industries. Ginkgo and Syngenta's partnership embodies the ethos of collaboration by addressing the challenges facing farmers around the world, leveraging new ideas, novel technologies, and unique partnerships.

"We are excited to leverage our proprietary ultra high-throughput single-cell encapsulation and screening platform to support Syngenta's development efforts to bring the next generation of innovative products to farmers," said Magalie Guilhabert, Vice President, Head of Ag Biologicals, Ginkgo Bioworks. "As we tackle agriculture's greatest challenges, we're excited to partner with global leaders like Syngenta and empower them to solve some of the most pressing challenges facing agriculture worldwide."

For more information on Ginkgo Bioworks' offerings in agriculture, please visit https://www.ginkgobioworks.com/offerings/agriculture.

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 Twitter (@Ginkgo and @ConcentricByGBW), Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks and @ConcentricByGinkgo), orLinkedIn.

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 the partnership and Ginkgo's cell programming platform. 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 unpredictability of the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the demand for COVID-19 testing and the commercial viability of our COVID-19 testing business, (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 annual report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 13, 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.

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SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks