mRNA Victoria and Ginkgo Bioworks Announce Partnership to Grow the Bioeconomy & International Biosecurity Capabilities

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Nov 17, 2021, 07:00 ET

MELBOURNE, Australia and BOSTON, Nov. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- mRNA Victoria, the agency of the Australian State of Victoria Government charged with building the State's mRNA manufacturing and research capability, and Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, today announced a partnership to support vaccine development, biosecurity initiatives, and the application to Ginkgo's platform in the pharmaceutical and biotech, food and agriculture, and mining and bioremediation/recycling sectors in Australia. As the first step in the partnership, Ginkgo will establish an office in Melbourne in what is hoped to be a future long-term business expansion within Australia.

Ginkgo's synthetic biology platform infrastructure and expertise brings critical capability to Victoria's biotech sector, and adds significant momentum to the State's rapidly growing biotechnology ecosystem. Ginkgo's cell programming capabilities have supported innovations in diagnostics and vaccine design and manufacturing, as well as ongoing research and development of innovative products such as living medicines, therapeutic proteins, and gene and cell therapies. Further, the company has established one of the largest nationwide COVID testing platforms in the United States, helping communities across the country keep kids in classrooms and COVID out. The company has also established an Airport Biosurveillance Program in collaboration with XpresCheck and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"Melbourne is one of the leading biomedical research communities in the world. We have to forge international collaborations like this because, as we have all learned, biology doesn't respect borders. We are incredibly excited to work with mRNA Victoria and hope to expand further into the Australian market," said Matt McKnight, Chief Commercial Officer, Ginkgo Bioworks.

Victoria is a leader in mRNA research and manufacturing in Australia, with the nation's most sophisticated and largest mRNA ecosystem and commercialization capability. Through mRNA Victoria, the Victorian Government will continue to attract world leading biotech innovators to invest in Victoria, creating new jobs and fostering innovation in novel RNA treatments.

"Victoria has a strong RNA ecosystem and is ideally placed to develop a sophisticated supply chain with critical capability from clinical development to the establishment of onshore mRNA manufacturing to the critical biosecurity technologies that enable us to reopen borders and get back to our lives," said Jaala Pulford, Victoria's Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy.

About mRNA Victoria
The State of Victoria is the home of Australia's biotech community with a globally recognized research sector including the country's leading mRNA researchers and existing capabilities in medtech, biotech, pharmaceutical and advanced manufacturing. mRNA Victoria is the Australian State of Victoria Government agency charged with building a world-class mRNA manufacturing and research capability. It leads the engagement and partnership with domestic and international companies, researchers, and other stakeholders in the mRNA ecosystem, and its investments and programs accelerate the growth of mRNA technology's scientific, commercial, and life-saving potential. For more information, please visit www.djpr.vic.gov.au/mrnavictoria

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. For more information, visit www.ginkgobioworks.com.

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 potential of Ginkgo's biosecurity capabilities and partnership with mRNA Victoria. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "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 document, including but not limited to: (i) the effect of the business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp. ("Soaring Eagle") on Ginkgo's business relationships, performance, and business generally, (ii) risks that the business combination disrupts current plans of Ginkgo and potential difficulties in Ginkgo's employee retention, (iii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Ginkgo related to its business combination with Soaring Eagle, (iv) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities now that it is a public company 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, (v) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after the completion of the business combination, and identify and realize additional opportunities, and (vi) 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 Ginkgo's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on November 15, 2021 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.

mRNA Victoria MEDIA CONTACT:
Rick Keating
[email protected]

GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR CONTACT:
[email protected]

GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA CONTACT:
[email protected]

SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks