NAMUH and Ginkgo Bioworks Announce Partnership to Produce Multiple Infant Nutrition Products

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Jan 18, 2023, 07:00 ET

Ginkgo will develop and optimize strains to produce functional oligosaccharides for NAMUH's infant nutrition products

BOSTON, Jan. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NAMUH, an infant nutrition company, and Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, today announced a multi-product collaboration to develop functional oligosaccharides that are structurally identical to those found in human breast milk.

NAMUH's mission is to create complete infant formula products substantially comparable to human breast milk, down to the molecular level. Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) are essential fiber-like nutrients unique to human milk that provide an important energy source to beneficial gut bacteria in infants. Despite being the third most abundant component in human milk, HMOs are currently a small component in infant formulas, if present at all.

Currently, NAMUH's proprietary technology provides for a cost-effective source of a family of HMOs via yeast fermentation. Through this partnership, NAMUH will leverage Ginkgo's expertise in yeast strain engineering and fermentation process development to enable the production of various HMOs through yeast fermentation and work to unlock the possibility of making infant formula nutritionally robust and much closer to human breast milk.

"Consumer demand for high quality, safe, infant nutrition products is growing, and NAMUH is thrilled to partner with Ginkgo to accelerate our market entry into this rapidly evolving category," said Dr. Chaeyoung Shin, founder and CEO at NAMUH. "We believe engineering biology is the perfect way to produce crucial nutrients for babies, and together with Ginkgo, we are excited to play a key role in improving how future generations are fed."

"At Ginkgo, we seek out partners like NAMUH that are using biology to create category-leading products in legacy industries," said Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks. "Countless families around the world rely on infant formula every day, and we are thrilled to be working with NAMUH as they aim to create a healthier, safer formula that parents can depend on."

About NAMUH

NAMUH ("HUMAN" spelled backwards) is an infant nutrition startup with a mission to close the unacceptable nutrition gap between breast milk and formula. NAMUH is using the power of science to help babies access much-needed nutrition that's currently available only through breastfeeding. For more information visit https://wearenamuh.com/ or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram (@weare_namuh), and Twitter (@wernamuh).

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), 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 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, 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.

NAMUH CONTACT
[email protected]

GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com

GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA CONTACT:
[email protected]

SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks