– Fuels development of Synlogic’s growing
pipeline of novel living medicines with technology access and $80.0
million equity investment at a premium –
– Applies Ginkgo’s high-throughput synthetic
biology platform services to human therapeutics –
– Synlogic to host a conference call at 8:00 am
ET today –
Synlogic, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYBX), a clinical-stage company applying
synthetic biology to beneficial microbes to develop novel, living
medicines and Ginkgo Bioworks, the organism company, today
announced a platform collaboration to accelerate expansion and
development of Synlogic’s pipeline of Synthetic Biotic medicines
using Ginkgo’s cell programming platform.
The agreement provides an $80.0 million equity investment at a
premium in Synlogic by Ginkgo and entry into a long-term strategic
platform collaboration. Synlogic will use Ginkgo’s cell programming
platform for building and testing thousands of microbial strains to
accelerate progression of early preclinical leads to drug
candidates optimized for further clinical development.
“This collaboration significantly enhances Synlogic’s Synthetic
Biotic strain optimization capabilities and builds on the
successful pilot program we began with Ginkgo in late 2017. It
enables us to advance high-quality candidate strains into
development more efficiently and provides technology and resources
that will fuel pipeline expansion as we continue to advance our
existing clinical programs,” said Aoife Brennan, M.B., Ch.B.,
Synlogic’s president and chief executive officer. “Ginkgo has built
a world-class infrastructure for programming and optimizing
microbial strains at a large scale which will be instrumental in
the development of our portfolio of Synthetic Biotic medicines. We
are excited to establish this agreement and to work together to
advance meaningful treatments for patients.”
“The ability to program living cells to sense and respond to
treat complex diseases has great potential. Synlogic’s platform for
designing and developing living medicines that can treat a wide
range of dynamic diseases has the potential to be transformative to
the next generation of pharmaceuticals,” said Jason Kelly, Ph.D.,
co-founder and chief executive officer of Ginkgo Bioworks. “Based
on the success of our pilot work with the Synlogic team, we’re
doubling down on our collaboration to grow this powerful engine for
the future of medicine together.”
Ginkgo has purchased 6,340,771 shares of Synlogic common stock
as well as pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 2,548,117 shares
of Synlogic common stock, both at a price of $9.00 per share. Gross
proceeds to Synlogic are approximately $80 million. The
transactions were executed and closed on June 11, 2019. At the
closing, under the foundry services agreement, Synlogic paid $30.0
million to Ginkgo for synthetic biology services to be provided
over an initial period of five years which can be extended.
Synlogic has exclusive rights to any Synthetic Biotic medicines
that it develops as part of the collaboration and to intellectual
property covering such products.
Conference Call & Webcast InformationSynlogic will
host a conference call and live webcast today at 8:00 am ET today,
Wednesday, June 12, 2019. To access the live webcast, please visit
the “Event Calendar” page within the Investors and Media section of
the Synlogic website. Alternatively, investors may listen to the
call by dialing +1 (844) 815-2882 from locations in the United
States or +1 (213) 660-0926 from outside the United States. The
conference ID number is 1885643. For those unable to participate in
the conference call or webcast, a replay will be available for 30
days on the Investors and Media section of the Synlogic
website.
About SynlogicSynlogic is pioneering the development of a
novel class of living medicines, Synthetic Biotic™ medicines, based
on its proprietary drug development platform. Synlogic leverages
the tools and principles of synthetic biology to genetically
engineer beneficial microbes to perform or deliver critical
functions missing or damaged due to disease. Synthetic Biotic
medicines are designed to act locally and have a systemic effect to
address disease in patients. Synlogic’s two lead programs, SYNB1020
and SYNB1618, are orally administered and target hyperammonemia as
a result of liver damage or genetic disease, and phenylketonuria,
respectively. Synlogic is also developing SYNB1891 as an
intratumorally-administered Synthetic Biotic medicine for the
treatment of cancer. In addition, the company is leveraging the
broad potential of its platform to create additional Synthetic
Biotic medicines for the treatment of liver disease, as well as
inflammatory and immune disorders including Synlogic’s
collaboration with AbbVie to develop Synthetic Biotic-based
treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). For more
information, please visit www.synlogictx.com.
About Ginkgo BioworksGinkgo Bioworks is the organism
company, using the power of biology to build sustainable products
in food, pharma, manufacturing, and more. Using sophisticated
software and state of the art automation, Ginkgo's powerful
platform for genetic engineering is making biology easier to
engineer, enabling new products to be renewably manufactured with
biology. Ginkgo’s investors include Viking Global Investors, Y
Combinator's Continuity Fund, Cascade Investment, and General
Atlantic. For more information, visit ginkgobioworks.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains
“forward-looking statements” that involve substantial risks and
uncertainties for purposes of the safe harbor provided by the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements,
other than statements of historical facts, included in this press
release regarding strategy, future operations, future financial
position, future revenue, projected expenses, prospects, plans and
objectives of management are forward-looking statements. In
addition, when or if used in this press release, the words “may,”
“could,” “should,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,”
“intend,” “plan,” “predict” and similar expressions and their
variants, as they relate to Synlogic may identify forward-looking
statements. Examples of forward-looking statements, include, but
are not limited to, statements regarding the potential of
Synlogic’s platform to develop therapeutics to address a wide range
of diseases, including: cancer, rare metabolic diseases, liver
disease, and inflammatory and immune disorders; the future clinical
development of Synthetic Biotic medicines; the approach Synlogic is
taking to discover and develop novel therapeutics using synthetic
biology; the potential of Synlogic’s technology to treat cancer,
hyperammonemia, and phenylketonuria. Actual results could differ
materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as
a result of various factors, including: the uncertainties inherent
in the clinical and preclinical development process; the ability of
Synlogic to protect its intellectual property rights; and
legislative, regulatory, political and economic developments, as
well as those risks identified under the heading “Risk Factors” in
Synlogic’s filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements
contained in this press release reflect Synlogic’s current views
with respect to future events. Synlogic anticipates that subsequent
events and developments will cause its views to change. However,
while Synlogic may elect to update these forward-looking statements
in the future, Synlogic specifically disclaims any obligation to do
so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as
representing Synlogic’s view as of any date subsequent to the date
hereof.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190612005243/en/
MEDIA CONTACT:
Synlogic, Inc.Courtney
Heath617-872-2462courtney@scientpr.com
Ginkgo BioworksJordyn
Lee347-382-9732ginkgobioworks@bateman-group.com
INVESTOR CONTACT:
Synlogic, Inc.Elizabeth Wolffe,
Ph.D.617-207-5509liz@synlogictx.com
Ginkgo BioworksMaeve ConneightonArgot
Partners212-600-1902maeve@argotpartners.com
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