Pfizer and Ginkgo Bioworks Announce $331M Collaboration to Develop Three RNA Therapeutics

On September 27, Ginkgo Bioworks announced a collaboration agreement with Pfizer to jointly develop three RNA drugs, with a total agreement value of up to $331 million. Ginkgo will also receive a percentage of sales royalties.

Synthetic biology giant Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc. owns an advanced cell programming platform capable of solving challenges for organizations across different markets, ranging from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals, as well as industrial and specialty chemicals.

Ginkgo's RNA technology combines high-throughput screening and multi-parameter design to identify specific application-based, novel natural and synthetic elements for efficient production, cyclization, and enhanced expression stability.

Pfizer has made extensive arrangements around nucleic acid drugs, and its cooperation with BioNTech seized the great opportunity presented by the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. This collaboration aims to leverage Ginkgo Bioworks' RNA-related technologies, which cover multiple aspects such as sequence modification, cyclization, and production.

Dr. Will Somers, Head of Biopharmaceutical Design at Pfizer, said: "RNA therapies are a crucial method for driving scientific innovation. With the advancement of synthetic biology, we have the potential to create new RNA treatments that can benefit patients worldwide. Access to Ginkgo's proprietary platform will help Pfizer discover new RNA structures and enhance the stability of RNA expression."

References: