Vivici Selects Ginkgo Bioworks to Extend Their Range of Novel Dairy Proteins

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Nov 27, 2023, 03:51 ET

Vivici has formed a partnership with Ginkgo to advance production of a sustainable and nutritious dairy protein, made via precision fermentation.
Ginkgo will use its Protein Production Services and generative AI platform to deliver best-in-class candidate strains to Vivici.
Vivici will use the strains from this collaboration to extend their existing range of proteins, supporting innovative specialised nutrition companies, to bring planet-friendly nutrition to consumers.

DELFT, Netherlands and BOSTON, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivici BV, an innovative B2B ingredients startup company using precision fermentation to make animal-free dairy proteins, and Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, today announced a new partnership. Through this collaboration, Vivici will leverage Ginkgo's extensive capabilities in strain engineering, optimisation and performance, to develop and commercialise a next generation of functional alternative protein.

Alternative Dairy Protein Production with Precision Fermentation

Vivici, a startup company founded by DSM Venturing (now part of dsm-firmenich) and Fonterra, is on a mission to meet the world's growing need for sustainable, nutritious and great tasting proteins. Recognizing the need for alternatives to traditional animal agriculture, Vivici employs precision fermentation techniques to produce animal-free dairy proteins with microorganisms. This innovative approach not only supplements the existing animal protein supply, but also paves the way for a more sustainable food system in the future.

Ginkgo's Tech Solution: Strain Development at Foundry Scale

Ginkgo plans to support Vivici by delivering optimized strains for dairy protein production via precision fermentation. Ginkgo intends to design and build an integrated library, screen for strains with the best protein expression, validate and grow the most promising hits, and then transfer the top performing strains to Vivici for evaluation. The aim is for these strains to enable optimal protein expression, superior functionality, and commercial-level titers.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with Ginkgo. Ginkgo's scale and AI-driven approach to designing strains for protein expression is a differentiated offering. We are confident in Ginkgo's capabilities to provide efficient, scalable strains that can support Vivici's speed to market," said Stephan van Sint Fiet, CEO at Vivici.

"We're so excited to support Vivici in its vision of meeting growing demand for animal-free protein alternatives. We're here to help Vivici deliver on the promise that precision fermentation can lead to planet-friendly nutrition," said Kevin Madden, Senior Vice President of Commercialization at Ginkgo Bioworks. "We believe our speed and experience with dairy protein development, ultra high throughput screening, and fermentation scale-up can enable Vivici to successfully expand their current protein portfolio and bring new solutions to market. We're eager to help Vivici enter the market as a provider of sustainable and nutritious animal-free protein solutions to a wide range of customers."

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 Vivici

Vivici is an innovative Dutch B2B ingredients company, supplying food and beverage brands with nutritious and sustainable animal-free dairy proteins, made with precision fermentation. Launching in early 2024, Vivici will bring its first product to market, a nature-equivalent whey protein, beta-lactoglobulin. As a B2B company Vivici will be supplying into leading innovative food and beverage brands who are looking to bring more sustainable whey offerings and improved animal-free consumer products to market.

For more information visit www.vivici.com, contact us via [email protected] or follow us through 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 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.

SOURCE Vivici B.V.