Ginkgo Bioworks and Bayer improve partnership

Ginkgo Bioworks announced today (22/4) plans to expand its platform capabilities into agricultural biologics. These capabilities will be built through a series of transactions, in which Ginkgo will acquire West Sacramento Biologics' research and development site, internal discovery and optimization team and platform from Bayer, and integrate the assets of Joyn's R&D platform. Bio, a joint venture between Ginkgo and Bayer formed in 2017.

Bayer will be the anchor agricultural customer for Ginkgo's expanded platform, entering into a significant new multi-year collaboration that will focus on advancing Joyn Bio's nitrogen fixation program, as well as new programs in areas such as crop protection and carbon sequestration.

While Ginkgo will continue to evaluate the operational expenditures required to launch and scale its expanded agricultural capabilities following these transactions, it is expected that the cash proceeds from this multi-year collaboration with Bayer can significantly offset these anticipated expenditures. The proposed transactions are expected to close before the end of 2022, pending the finalization of definitive agreements and subject to regulatory approvals.

Agricultural biologicals are a rapidly growing category of solutions that offer enormous sustainability and performance benefits. Against a backdrop of rising fertilizer costs and new threats from pests and diseases, producers are calling for new agricultural solutions that can increase yields and decrease their environmental footprint. Although chemical and plant trait solutions have been the dominant solutions in the market, the demand for biological products has increased dramatically.

"Bayer, Ginkgo and Joyn share a common vision, which is to enable biologics to be a part of the solution to the world's biggest agricultural and environmental challenges," said Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks.

"We are incredibly impressed with the success of the Joyn team and the deep expertise of the Bayer R&D team in West Sacramento, and we are excited to have them join Ginkgo as we build deep end-to-end capabilities in agricultural biologics at large. scale. We believe we are bringing together the most innovative minds in agriculture with the expertise of a team that has brought several effective biologics to market for Bayer - opening this platform to the world has the potential to truly revolutionize the field," Kelly added.

Bayer has long been committed to expanding its product offerings to benefit producers around the world. In recent years, the company has made a strategic decision to focus on becoming the preferred research, development and commercial partner in the biologics segment, while leveraging an "open innovation" model to be able to partner broadly with companies of disruptive discovery.

Through this agreement, Bayer is committing to a significant multi-year collaboration, advancing several programs, including a nitrogen fixation program, as well as a suite of other programs in areas such as next-generation crop protection and carbon sequestration. .

"Biological solutions will play a critical role in the agricultural innovation ecosystem, and we see a tremendous opportunity for biologicals to add even more value to agriculture in the future because they are effective and provide the environmental benefits that producers want," said Bob Reiter, director of Bayer Crop Science R&D.

"Bayer is moving to strengthen its product development and commercial positioning through strategic research partnerships for new product development, and we are excited to deepen our relationship with Ginkgo, which we expect to be an important partner for many years to come" , adds Reiter.

Over the past five years, Joyn has developed a new class of microbial solutions in partnership with Bayer and Ginkgo. Through this transaction, Joyn's product concepts will be advanced by Bayer, with a particular focus on its nitrogen fixation program, while platform assets and support team members will be integrated into Ginkgo as the company expands its support for agricultural biologicals. Ginkgo will also offer these capabilities to a wide range of customers in agriculture.

"With the support of Ginkgo and Bayer, Joyn Bio has made groundbreaking discoveries in several programs that will be critical to future work in biologics," said Michael Miille, CEO of Joyn Bio.

“We are excited to take this platform to the next stage, with Bayer advancing key programs to the next level and working with Ginkgo to open our capabilities to a broader set of commercial partners,” adds Miille.

The parties look forward to signing a definitive agreement and moving toward an efficient closing, supported by ongoing integration planning efforts.

About Ginkgo Bioworks

Ginkgo is building a platform to allow customers to program cells as easily as one can program computers. The company's platform is enabling biotechnology applications in diverse markets, from food and agriculture to industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals. 

About Joyn Bio

Joyn Bio is a joint venture between Ginkgo Bioworks and Leaps by Bayer, founded to solve pressing agricultural challenges threatening the global food supply and environmental health using the combination of synthetic biology and beneficial microbes.

Develops sustainable agricultural biological products for crop protection and fertility that meet or exceed the performance of their chemical counterparts. The company's first product is an engineered microbe that allows cereal crops such as corn, wheat and rice to convert nitrogen from the air into a form they can use, significantly reducing the environmental impact of agriculture's reliance on chemical fertilizers.