BOSTON and BASEL, Switzerland, March 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ginkgo
Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), the leading horizontal platform for cell
programming, today announced the entry into a definitive agreement
to acquire FGen AG ("FGen"), a Swiss company specializing in strain
development and optimization. FGen has developed an
ultra-high-throughput (uHT) screening platform built on nanoliter
reactor technology. Ginkgo believes that FGen's technology will
significantly enhance Ginkgo's cell screening capabilities and
enable Ginkgo to explore wider expanses of genetic opportunity
space, increasing the likelihood of finding enzymes, pathways, and
strains or cell lines that perform to diverse product
specifications.
Ginkgo and FGen plan to close the transaction promptly.
Post-closing, Ginkgo expects that the integration of FGen's
platform can greatly increase the capacity of Ginkgo's
Design-Build-Test-Learn strain development engine, a foundation of
Ginkgo's technology stack. By adding FGen's uHT screening platform
to its existing HT screening systems, Ginkgo seeks to be able to
routinely analyze the performance of millions of genetic prototypes
in pooled format, upgrading the quality of candidate hits that feed
into downstream workflows for strain characterization and
validation. FGen's platform is extremely flexible across organisms,
pathways, and target products. The platform can be deployed to
screen for both intracellular and secreted target products as well
as both small molecules and proteins. It can also accommodate
diverse organisms including bacteria, yeast, filamentous species,
and mammalian cells.
"Ginkgo is committed to investing in creating the premier cell
programming platform by integrating best-in-class tools from around
the world and deploying them broadly across our programs," said
Barry Canton, Ginkgo's co-founder
and Chief Technology Officer. "We have worked with the FGen team
for several years and believe their technology and world-class
scientists will allow us to further improve our ability to explore
an exponentially wider design space and deliver more value for our
customers."
"Our team has spent the last decade building one of the most
advanced screening platforms in the world in the hopes of enabling
breakthrough discoveries and products across industries," said
Andreas Meyer, Chief Executive
Officer of FGen. "We are excited to be welcomed onto the Ginkgo
platform where we can deploy this technology much more broadly and
better support customers and their world-changing work."
Under the terms of the transaction, FGen will receive upfront
payment and additional contingent consideration related to, among
other things, the successful integration and deployment of the FGen
technology across Ginkgo programs.
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 FGen AG
FGen is a Swiss start-up company founded
2011 in Basel, Switzerland as a
spin-off from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering
of the ETH Zurich. As a contract research organization we
collaborate with partners from Biotech, Life Sciences,
Agribusiness, and Pharma in order to develop microbes, cells,
chemicals, and proteins for various applications. For more
information, visit www.fgen.ch.
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 its expectations that the transaction will close
promptly, the potential success of the acquisition and Ginkgo's
cell programming platform. 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.
GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR
CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA
CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
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SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks