BiomEdit intends to discover and develop animal health
products that leverage microbiome science to improve animal health,
animal protein production, and livestock disease monitoring
GREENFIELD, Ind. and BOSTON, April 11,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Elanco Animal Health
Incorporated (NYSE: ELAN), a leading global animal health company,
and Ginkgo Bioworks, the leading horizontal platform for cell
programming, today announced the launch of BiomEdit, a microbiome
innovation company that is expected to discover, develop and
introduce novel probiotics, bioactive molecules, engineered
microbial medicines and microbial monitoring services for animal
health.
Microbiome science is a rapidly growing field creating
breakthroughs in animal health based on the microbial communities
in animals and the surrounding environment. BiomEdit intends to
discover, develop and introduce differentiated products that
address some of the greatest needs for innovation in animal health,
including medicated feed ingredients, nutritional health and
therapeutics for livestock and pet species, as well as biosecurity
technology for animal disease monitoring.
In October 2021, Elanco
announced its intention to carve out its microbiome platform and
pipeline under the leadership of Aaron
Schacht, BiomEdit CEO and former Elanco executive vice
president of Innovation, Regulatory and Business Development, to
concentrate and focus more resources on its high value late-stage
Pet Health pipeline. BiomEdit is the result of this separation, and
was developed with Ferment Co., the company creation studio that
helps ideate and launch new companies across a variety of
end-markets that use cell programming to support human and
environmental health and well-being.
Elanco will contribute intellectual property and a pipeline of
ongoing programs to BiomEdit, which will be staffed with members of
the former Elanco microbiome R&D team. The team brings the
expertise and experience needed to build on the foundation of
microbiome work started at Elanco. By leveraging foundational
programs from Elanco, intellectual property from both Elanco and
Ginkgo, and an experienced team, BiomEdit should be well positioned
as a stand-alone company to develop and launch innovative products
to address unmet needs in animal health.
"Livestock producers and veterinarians are calling for new
products that address antibiotic resistance and improve livestock
sustainability," said Mr. Schacht. "Coupling the platform, pipeline
and deep expertise of the former Elanco microbiome team with
Ginkgo's unique screening and strain engineering capabilities will
accelerate and amplify our ability to advance novel animal
microbiome inspired products for animal health."
"Elanco is excited to continue its participation in the
microbiome by partnering with Ginkgo, Viking Global Investors and
Anterra Capital to create the next-generation animal health
innovation player," said Jeff
Simmons, president and CEO of Elanco Animal Health. "We wish
Aaron and his team the best as they build out this novel innovation
platform to address unmet needs in animal health, such as
alternatives to antibiotics."
Ginkgo has significant expertise in the discovery, design and
monitoring of microbes at scale for a wide array of functions.
BiomEdit plans to leverage Ginkgo's state-of-the-art cell
programming platform to improve the design and development of
probiotics, bioactives, engineered microbial medicines, and
microbial monitoring services. BiomEdit joins other Ginkgo Bioworks
platform ventures such as Joyn Bio,
Motif FoodWorks, Allonnia, Arcaea, Verb Biotics and Ayana Bio.
"We are always on the lookout for opportunities to accelerate
our partners' abilities to address massive challenges, such as
antibiotic resistance in livestock," said Jason Kelly, CEO of Ginkgo. "Together, we see
Ginkgo and BiomEdit addressing significant opportunities in the
animal health industry with new breakthroughs based on microbiome
science. We deeply depend on the health of animals in our ecosystem
and supply chains; the potential applications for our cell
programming platform in this area are far reaching."
In addition to the assets and intellectual property contributed
by Elanco and Ginkgo, BiomEdit is launching with a targeted Series
A funding raise of $40 million, with
participation by Viking Global Investors and Anterra Capital. In
exchange for their respective asset and intellectual property
contributions, Elanco and Ginkgo are expected to retain
approximately 40% combined proportional ownership of BiomEdit, on a
fully-diluted basis, upon the completion of the Series A financing.
Elanco's ownership will be in non-voting shares.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted on behalf of Elanco as sole
placement agent on the financing.
About BiomEdit
BiomEdit is a microbiome innovation
company that discovers, designs and develops novel probiotics,
microbiome derived bioactives and engineered microbial medicines to
address unmet needs in animal health. We partner with Ginkgo
Bioworks to amplify and accelerate product discovery and
development with a goal of introducing breakthrough innovation for
livestock producers and veterinarians.
About Elanco
Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:
ELAN) is a global leader in animal health dedicated to innovating
and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease
in farm animals and pets, creating value for farmers, pet owners,
veterinarians, stakeholders, and society as a whole. With nearly 70
years of animal health heritage, we are committed to helping our
customers improve the health of animals in their care, while also
making a meaningful impact on our local and global communities. At
Elanco, we are driven by our vision of Food and Companionship
Enriching Life and our Elanco Healthy Purpose™ Sustainability/ESG
Pledges –all to advance the health of animals, people, and the
planet. Learn more at elanco.com.
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.
About FermentCo
The Ferment Co is a company creation
studio for the next wave of synthetic biology product companies.
The Ferment Co is powered by Ginkgo Bioworks, the world's most
advanced platform for cell programming. Learn more
at www.Ferment.co.
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) the effect of Ginkgo's 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
operates and 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, (vi) the risk of downturns in demand
for products using synthetic biology, (vii) 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, and (viii) changes to the biosecurity
industry, including due to advancements in technology,
emerging competition and evolution in industry demands, standards
and regulations. 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 annual report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March
29, 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.
Forward-Looking Statements of Elanco
This press
release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act). Forward-looking
statements are based on Elanco's current expectations and
assumptions regarding its business, the economy and other future
conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the
future, by their nature, they are subject to inherent
uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are
difficult to predict. As a result, Elanco's actual results may
differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking
statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements
include regional, national, or global political, economic,
business, competitive, market, and regulatory conditions, including
but not limited to the impact of disruptive innovations and
advances in veterinary medical practices, animal health
technologies and alternatives to animal-derived protein; whether
the operational and strategic benefits of the transaction described
herein can be achieved; and whether the uncertainty of announcing
the separation initiative will have adverse impacts on the
employees, customers and suppliers related to Elanco's microbiome
platform or its business generally. For additional information
about the factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from forward-looking statements, please see Elanco's
latest Form 10-K and subsequent Form 10-Qs filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Although Elanco has attempted
to identify important risk factors, there may be other risk factors
not presently known to Elanco or that it presently believes are not
material that could cause actual results and developments to differ
materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking
statements contained in this press release. If any of these risks
materialize, or if any of the above assumptions underlying
forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results and
developments may differ materially from those made in or suggested
by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
Elanco cautions you against relying on any forward-looking
statements, which should also be read in conjunction with the other
cautionary statements that are included elsewhere in this press
release. Any forward-looking statement made by Elanco in this press
release speaks only as of the date thereof. Factors or events that
could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to
time, and it is not possible to predict all of them. Elanco
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or to revise any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by
law.
GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR
CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA
CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
ELANCO INVESTOR CONTACT
Katy
Grissom
+1.317.273.9248
kathryn.grissom@elancoah.com
ELANCO MEDIA CONTACT
Colleen
Parr Dekker
+1.317.989.7011
olleen.dekker@elancoah.com
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/elanco-and-ginkgo-bioworks-launch-biomedit-a-new-animal-health-company-leveraging-microbiome-technology-301522490.html
SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks