Boston-based biotech Ginkgo Bioworks, known for its cell programming and biosecurity technologies, has broadened its collaboration with Novo Nordisk, the companies announced this week.
The partnership, set for a five-year term, aims to enhance the manufacturing processes of Novo Nordisk’s medications and includes collaboration on early pipeline projects and technology advancements for scalable manufacturing solutions.
The collaboration is designed to leverage Ginkgo’s synthetic biology platform to optimize Novo Nordisk’s R&D pipeline, from discovery through manufacturing.
Marcus Schindler, Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president and chief scientific officer, highlighted the initial success in optimizing production processes with Ginkgo and expressed anticipation for the expanded collaboration to incorporate Ginkgo’s capabilities more extensively across Novo’s R&D and manufacturing efforts, "We look forward to leveraging Ginkgo's synthetic biology platform across our R&D pipeline, from discovery through new ways of manufacturing, in this broader strategic partnership."
Last year, Ginkgo partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim to develop therapies for difficult-to-treat diseases. They planned to use Ginkgo's metagenomic sequence database, rich in unique bioactive molecules, to identify new treatment targets. Boehringer Ingelheim agreed to pay Ginkgo upfront research fees, with Ginkgo eligible for up to $406 million in research, development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, plus potential future royalties.
