BOSTON - Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Inc. (NYSE: NYSE:DNA), known for its cell programming platform, has acquired Patch Biosciences, a company specializing in AI-driven sequence design for genetic medicines. The acquisition, announced today, aims to enhance Ginkgo's services in gene and cell therapy, as well as RNA therapeutics.
Patch Biosciences has previously garnered support from notable investors such as Andreessen Horowitz's Bio + Health fund, Casdin Capital, and S32. Ginkgo Bioworks, which does not develop its own products but offers R&D services, plans to integrate Patch's machine learning models and assays into its platform.
This integration is expected to provide Ginkgo's partners with advanced capabilities in synthetic promoter and untranslated region (UTR) engineering.
Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks, highlighted the value of incorporating Patch's capabilities, libraries, and datasets into Ginkgo's services. The acquisition is set to augment the genetic medicine toolkit available to Ginkgo's partners and enhance the R&D experience offered to customers.
Ginkgo's recent collaborative efforts include work with Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) on RNA-based drug candidates and a partnership with Sensible Biotechnologies to develop an in vivo microbial mRNA manufacturing platform.
The company also announced the successful completion of a manufacturing optimization program with Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) for recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based vectors, which has set a new industry standard for AAV production titers.
JB Michel, CEO and co-founder of Patch Biosciences, expressed enthusiasm for the acquisition, noting the potential for the combined expertise of both teams to advance the field of programmable medicines.
The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed in the press release statement. The strategic move by Ginkgo Bioworks is part of its ongoing effort to expand its pipeline and capabilities in the burgeoning field of genetic medicine, offering a broader set of tools and services to its customers.
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