OneOne Biosciences Partners with Ginkgo Bioworks to Advance its Platform and Nitrogen Fixation Microbial Product

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Dec 20, 2023, 07:00 ET

OneOne is a French biotech startup developing a comprehensive suite of agricultural microbial solutions
Ginkgo will support OneOne in its agricultural biologicals and synthetic biology R&D
Ginkgo will initially conduct in vitro and in planta assays to test OneOne's concept. In a planned second phase, Ginkgo's Strain Optimization Services and ultra high throughput encapsulated screening will provide OneOne with optimized strains for nitrogen fixation
OneOne expects to use those strains to move to field trials and minimize its time-to-market

PARIS and BOSTON, Dec. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OneOne Biosciences, a French startup building a comprehensive suite of agricultural microbial solutions for farmers, and Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, today announced a new partnership. This collaboration will leverage Ginkgo's robust ag biologicals infrastructure, biotechnological expertise, and Strain Optimization Services to accelerate OneOne's research and product development in agricultural microbial solutions.

OneOne Biosciences Partners with Ginkgo Bioworks to Advance its Platform and Nitrogen Fixation Microbial Product

OneOne believes that existing crop fertilization and protection products need a major upgrade — conventional agrochemicals are responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, and large-scale pollution. Farmers also face high price volatility and supply chain issues.

OneOne's mission is to equip growers with bio-based agricultural inputs characterized by both exceptional effectiveness and longevity. Central to this mission is OneOne's development of a novel, universal solution for production and delivery of ag microbials through the OneOne Multiplier™, a user-friendly "espresso machine-type" device that amplifies microbes at the point of use. Users can insert OneOne Livepods™ into the Multiplier to aseptically prepare microbials, which can then be applied directly to crops. Livepods are designed to come loaded with microbes that are tailored for specific-use cases — e.g. nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, crop protection, drought resistance, carbon sequestration, and more. This fresh approach, combined with other species-independent innovative components, aims to be forward compatible with future data-based product personalization, parametrized by individual crop and soil characteristics.

OneOne's initial focus is on developing a Livepod for nitrogen fixation, a roughly $100 billion market. OneOne will work with Ginkgo for in vitro and in planta assays to test OneOne's concept. In a second phase, Ginkgo plans to use its Strain Optimization Services and ultra high throughput encapsulated screening to provide optimized strains for nitrogen fixation. The strains may then progress to field trials and regulatory preparations before commercialization.

"We are building a platform to provide growers with a complete range of microbial solutions beneficial to their crops, soils, and bottom lines. We expect our products to maximize long-term agronomic performance and farmer ROI," said OneOne's founder and CEO, Julien Sylvestre. "We are excited by this strategic partnership with Ginkgo, as we believe they are the only player capable of bringing all the expertise, infrastructure, and experience needed to ensure effective and efficient handling of key lines of our ag biologicals research and product development. We are confident that Ginkgo's comprehensive services can generate valuable strain assets and reduce time-to-market. We look forward to contributing to the ongoing transition from chemicals towards bio-based solutions in the agricultural space, as is happening in other large industries. We expect that, at scale, this transition can and will drive significant net positives for economies and the environment in years to come."

"We're thrilled to assist OneOne in demonstrating their concept and to apply our deep experience with nitrogen fixation as we seek to deliver successful strains for their Livepods," said Magalie Guilhabert, Head of Ag Biologicals, Ginkgo Bioworks. "Our partnership underscores the growing role of synbio in agriculture. We firmly believe ag biologicals represent the future of sustainable, successful agriculture, and we are eager to support innovators like OneOne in entering the market with cutting-edge solutions."

To learn more about Ginkgo Strain Optimization Services, please visit https://www.ginkgobioworks.com/offerings/strain-optimization-services.

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 (formerly known as Twitter) (@Ginkgo and @ConcentricByGBW), Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks and @ConcentricByGinkgo), Threads (@GinkgoBioworks) or LinkedIn.

About OneOne

OneOne Biosciences empowers farmers to reduce their reliance on harmful agrochemicals through innovative biosolutions that benefit their crops, their soil and their bottom line. OneOne's proprietary platform technology supports the development and deployment of highly effective microorganisms for crop nutrition, growth stimulation, and crop protection, replacing fertilizers and pesticides — an approximately $200 billion market. Additional applications include climate change mitigation and adaptation. OneOne Biosciences is VC-backed, has a lab in Paris, a subsidiary in the UK, and collaborations globally. The company is poised to become a key player in advancing sustainable agriculture at scale.

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 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.

ONEONE INVESTOR CONTACT:
[email protected]

GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR CONTACT:
[email protected]

GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA CONTACT:
[email protected]

SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks