Ginkgo Bioworks and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Botswana Announce Plans to Develop and Implement New Biosecurity Capabilities in Botswana

Collaboration aims to leverage innovative biosecurity capabilities to promote public health, global health security, and the development of the bioeconomy

BOSTON and GABORONE, Botswana, Dec. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, and the Ministry of Health ("MoH"), representing the Government of the Republic of Botswana, today announced that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU") with the intent of developing and implementing new biosecurity capabilities in Botswana.

The planned partnership will support capacity-building and biosecurity throughout Botswana's public health sector. Ginkgo, through its biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo ("Concentric"), plans to collaborate with the Botswana MoH to equip local public health institutions with biosecurity tools and training, as well as the secure data infrastructure that they need to leverage automation, data analysis, bio-informatics capabilities and other critical genomic sequencing technologies. Concentric and Botswana MoH will also endeavor to address key biosecurity challenges, by implementing innovative pathogen monitoring programs at strategic nodes, such as ports of entry and animal agricultural settings.

As biological threats continue to emerge, Concentric and the Botswana MoH recognize the importance of international collaboration and cooperation to promote global health security. Effective pathogen monitoring and data sharing capabilities can empower government officials, community leaders and other stakeholders, to make informed public health decisions. This planned partnership is a significant milestone in the development of Concentric's global pathogen monitoring network and will advance Botswana MoH's public health mission. Building biosecurity infrastructure and capacity will also support the long-term development of a knowledge-based economy and biotechnology workforce.

"Pathogens don't recognize national borders, so it is critical to create widespread and sustainable biosecurity infrastructure that acts as a radar to feed a global pathogen weather map," said Matthew McKnight, General Manager, Biosecurity at Ginkgo Bioworks. "We are deeply grateful for Botswana's leadership in deploying next-generation biosecurity, and we're excited to use Concentric's platform to support the Ministry of Health as they work to continually improve health care provision in Botswana and address broader health security challenges such as zoonotic spillover,"

Ms Grace Muzila, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health of Botswana observed that, "Biological threats will continue to emerge, whether through travel, zoonotic spillover, or other means, and they will continue to put a strain on health care institutions in our country and globally. As a result, we need to put in place the tools that will enable us to detect and respond to these public health threats in future. We look forward to partnering with Ginkgo to bring Botswana into a new era of biosecurity innovation that will support our critical public health needs." 

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), or LinkedIn.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) of Botswana was established by an act of Parliament as a custodian of public health in Botswana with a regulatory oversight function. MoH is mandated to protect the public from health hazards and to ensure the delivery of quality health services to Botswana. It formulates acts, policies, regulations and norms, standards and guidelines for health services.  As the key custodian of healthcare services, almost every village or community has a health care facility located within a 5km radius.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the potential success of the partnership and Ginkgo's biosecurity 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, and (vi) our ability to realize the expected benefits of merger and acquisition transactions. 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 14, 2022 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 MEDIA CONTACT:
[email protected] 

GINKGO INVESTOR CONTACT:
[email protected] 

BOTSWANA MINISTRY OF HEALTH MEDIA CONTACT:
[email protected]

SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks