BOSTON and EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug
5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bolt Threads, a biotechnology
company creating the next generation of advanced materials, and
Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc. ("Ginkgo"), which is building the leading
horizontal platform for cell programming, today announced a
partnership. Ginkgo, which recently announced a business
combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: SRNG),
serves customers across industries seeking to develop new and
better products. Bolt Threads seeks to leverage Ginkgo's
long-established expertise in strain engineering to improve the
sustainability, efficiency and cost effectiveness of its
b-silk™ protein manufacturing process.
Bolt Threads' team of engineers and designers have spent nearly
a decade at the forefront of the synthetic biology industry,
securing partnerships with consumer brands including Kering,
Stella McCartney, adidas and
lululemon to bring advanced biological materials to consumers
around the globe. In recent years, Bolt Threads has developed
b-silk protein, an innovative ingredient inspired by the strength
and elasticity of spider silk. Through clinical trials, Bolt
Threads has proven that b-silk protein is able to deliver silk-like
softness, provide powerful skin defense, and has the potential to
sustainably replace synthetic ingredients, like silicone, in skin
and hair care products. While b-silk protein is currently available
for purchase in premium product lines like Vegamour, this new
partnership will leverage Ginkgo's strain engineering capabilities
with the goal of improving the production efficiency of b-silk
protein, scaling b-silk protein to more mass availability, and
potentially unlocking further applications for the ingredient
throughout the clean beauty and personal care industries.
"We are thrilled to be working with Bolt Threads, one of the
longstanding innovative product designers in synthetic biology, to
support their innovation in the beauty and personal care
industries," said Jason Kelly,
co-founder and CEO at Ginkgo Bioworks. "We believe in the power of
biology to transform every industry that produces physical goods
and have built our platform to enable innovators like Bolt Threads
to bring their vision to life."
"Ginkgo's expertise in engineering biology will enable us to
accelerate our work transforming the clean beauty and personal care
industries with new, sustainable ingredients that have been
previously inaccessible to consumers," said David Breslauer, co-founder and Chief Scientific
Officer at Bolt Threads. "B-silk protein has the potential to bring
new performance properties to everyday products while utilizing
truly sustainable production processes at scale."
Companies across numerous industries use Ginkgo's cell
programming platform to find more effective, environmentally
friendly ways to create products including food ingredients,
fragrances, cosmetics, medicines, and more. By enabling the design
of organisms that can produce valuable biological products, Ginkgo
helps accelerate the development of innovative, bio-based solutions
to the world's most pressing environmental challenges.
About Bolt Threads
Bolt Threads is on a mission to create way better materials for
a way better world, developing sustainable solutions for the
apparel and beauty industries. With nature as inspiration, Bolt
Threads invents and scales credible materials that put us on a path
towards a more sustainable future. In 2020, Bolt Threads announced
the Mylo™️ consortium with iconic global companies – adidas,
Kering, lululemon, and Stella
McCartney – coming together to secure exclusive access to
its mycelium-based leather alternative, Mylo™. Bolt Threads is
based in Emeryville, Calif. and
was a Fast Company Most Innovative company in 2019 and 2018. For
additional information, please visit www.boltthreads.com.
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 is also actively supporting a number of COVID-19 response
efforts, including K-12 pooled testing, vaccine manufacturing
optimization and therapeutics discovery. In May 2021, Ginkgo announced a business combination
with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq:SRNG), which, if
completed, will result in Ginkgo, through a parent entity, Ginkgo
Bioworks Holdings, Inc., becoming a public company. The transaction
is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, subject to
regulatory and shareholder approvals, and other customary closing
conditions. For more information, visit www.ginkgobioworks.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
INVESTOR CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
ADDITIONAL LEGAL INFORMATION
Forward-Looking Statements Legend
This document contains certain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the federal securities laws with respect to the
proposed transaction between Ginkgo and Soaring Eagle Acquisition
Corp. ("SRNG"), including statements regarding the benefits of the
transaction, the anticipated timing of the transaction, the
services offered by Ginkgo and the markets in which it operates,
and Ginkgo's projected future results. These forward-looking
statements generally are identified by the words "believe,"
"project," "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 risk that the transaction may not be completed
in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect the price
of SRNG's securities, (ii) the risk that the transaction may not be
completed by SRNG's business combination deadline and the potential
failure to obtain an extension of the business combination deadline
if sought by SRNG, (iii) the failure to satisfy the conditions to
the consummation of the transaction, including the adoption of the
agreement and plan of merger by the shareholders of SRNG and
Ginkgo, the satisfaction of the minimum trust account amount
following redemptions by SRNG's public shareholders and the receipt
of certain governmental and regulatory approvals, (iv) the lack of
a third party valuation in determining whether or not to pursue the
proposed transaction, (v) the occurrence of any event, change or
other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the
agreement and plan of merger, (vi) the effect of the announcement
or pendency of the transaction on Ginkgo business relationships,
performance, and business generally, (vii) risks that the proposed
transaction disrupts current plans of Ginkgo and potential
difficulties in Ginkgo employee retention as a result of the
proposed transaction, (viii) the outcome of any legal proceedings
that may be instituted against Ginkgo or against SRNG related to
the agreement and plan of merger or the proposed transaction, (ix)
the ability to maintain the listing of SRNG's securities on Nasdaq,
(x) volatility in the price of SRNG's securities 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, (xi) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts,
and other expectations after the completion of the proposed
transaction, and identify and realize additional opportunities, and
(xii) 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 SRNG's
proxy statement/prospectus relating to the transaction, and in
SRNG's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the "SEC"). SRNG and Ginkgo caution that the foregoing list of
factors is not exclusive. SRNG and Ginkgo caution readers not to
place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date made. Neither SRNG nor Ginkgo undertake
or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any
updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect
any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions
or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
Additional Information and Where to Find It
This document relates to a proposed transaction between Ginkgo
and SRNG. This document does not constitute an offer to sell or
exchange, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or exchange, any
securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any
jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or exchange would be
unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the
securities laws of any such jurisdiction. In connection with the
proposed transaction, SRNG filed a registration statement on Form
S-4/A with the SEC on July 16, 2021,
which included a proxy statement of SRNG and a prospectus of SRNG.
The definitive proxy statement/prospectus will be sent to all SRNG
shareholders as of the record date to be established for voting on
the proposed business combination and Ginkgo stockholders. SRNG
also will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction
with the SEC. Before making any voting decision, investors and
security holders of SRNG and Ginkgo are urged to read the
registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus and all
other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC
in connection with the proposed transaction as they become
available because they will contain important information about the
proposed transaction.
Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the
proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed
or that will be filed with the SEC by SRNG through the website
maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. In addition, the documents
filed by SRNG may be obtained free of charge by written request to
SRNG at 955 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY, 10075, Attention: Eli
Baker, Chief Financial Officer, (310) 209-7280.
Participants in Solicitation
SRNG's and Ginkgo and their respective directors and officers
may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies
from SRNG's stockholders in connection with the proposed
transaction. Information about SRNG's directors and executive
officers and their ownership of SRNG's securities is set forth in
SRNG's filings with the SEC. To the extent that holdings of SRNG's
securities have changed since the amounts printed in SRNG's proxy
statement, such changes have been or will be reflected on
Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC.
Additional information regarding the interests of those persons and
other persons who may be deemed participants in the proposed
transaction may be obtained by reading the proxy
statement/prospectus regarding the proposed transaction when it
becomes available. You may obtain free copies of these documents as
described in the preceding paragraph.
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SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks