Ginkgo Technology Network Launches, Providing an Integrated R&D Experience with Capabilities from Over 25 Inaugural Partners

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Feb 28, 2024, 07:01 ET

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.

Ginkgo Technology Network Launches, Providing an Integrated R&D Experience with Capabilities from Over 25 Inaugural Partners

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 [email protected].

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), 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.

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SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks