Pfizer Enters $331 Million RNA Discovery Collaboration with Ginkgo Bioworks
American biotech company Ginkgo Bioworks announced a new collaboration with Pfizer focused on the discovery of RNA-based drug candidates.
The partnership will see Pfizer harness Ginkgo’s proprietary RNA technology, a pioneering platform designed to expedite the discovery and development of innovative RNA molecules across priority research areas. Under the terms of the collaboration, Ginkgo will receive an initial upfront payment and stand to earn research fees, as well as development and commercial milestone payments, with the potential to amass a total of $331 million across three distinct programs. Furthermore, Ginkgo is poised to reap downstream rewards in the form of royalties on sales, solidifying its commitment to driving innovation in RNA therapeutics.
This collaboration underscores the growing interest within the industry in harnessing RNA-based solutions for drug discovery to revolutionize healthcare outcomes.
Will Somers, Ph.D., Head, Biomedicine Design, Pfizer commented:
“RNA therapeutics are proving to be an important platform to advance the world of scientific innovation, and with progress in synthetic biology we have the potential to create new RNA treatments that may benefit patients worldwide. Access to Ginkgo’s proprietary platform will help enable Pfizer to search for novel and exciting RNA constructs with improved stability and expression that could lead to more effective treatments.”
At the heart of Ginkgo’s RNA technology lies a sophisticated framework that combines high-throughput screening of RNA construct behavior with a multi-parameter design approach. This powerful amalgamation enables the identification of novel natural and synthetic elements tailored to specific applications. Ginkgo’s overarching mission is to leverage these capabilities to streamline production, facilitate circularization, enhance stability, and optimize the translation of each RNA construct. This dedication to innovation and efficiency underscores Ginkgo’s pivotal role in advancing the field of RNA-based drug discovery.
Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks said:
“Billions of patients around the world have already benefited from advances in RNA-based technologies. We’re thrilled to be able to help enable the discovery and development of novel drugs using this powerful modality by applying our platform technologies, which are designed to program RNA for maximum therapeutic effect. Ginkgo’s approach enables and accelerates discovery across different disease areas and modalities for our partners, who bring deep expertise in drug development. We can’t wait to leverage our broad and deep RNA Codebase and deploy our Foundry to enable the era of programmable medicines with the Pfizer team.”
Throughout the summer season, Ginkgo has been actively engaged in forging new partnerships. In August, Merck & Co. solidified a second collaboration with the biotechnology company, focusing on biologic manufacturing with a potential value of up to $490 million. Similarly, in May, Boehringer Ingelheim engaged Ginkgo in a strategic alliance aimed at uncovering solutions for challenging, “undruggable” targets, marking a pact with a potential worth of up to $406 million.
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.
To learn more about Ginkgo’s RNA Therapeutics offering, visit: https://investors.ginkgobioworks.com
Original Source: Press Release – Ginkgo Bioworks
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