Aldevron, Ginkgo Bioworks Partner on mRNA Vax Mfg. Breakthrough

Aldevron, a research to GMP biomanufacturer of plasmid DNA, mRNA, and proteins, and Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc., announced a manufacturing breakthrough leveraging their strategic partnership.

Aldevron manufactures high-quality components in the field of genetic medicine and Ginkgo is building a platform for cell programming aimed at enabling customers to improve products and manufacturing processes for greater efficiency and sustainability.

The companies have been working together to optimize production of mRNA vaccine components, which resulted in significant breakthrough improvements in manufacturing yield of the vaccinia capping enzyme (VCE), a component often required to produce mRNA therapies and vaccines.

Aldevron has the exclusive rights to the protocol conditions of the newly developed manufacturing process, which is more than 10-times more efficient than the previous process, according to the company.

"Aldevron's industry-leading products and services are the foundation for some of the most exciting advances in biological science today," said Jason Kelly, CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks. "This partnership represents a momentous growth opportunity for Aldevron as it continues to bolster its already expansive portfolio of products, and an exciting milestone for Ginkgo as we continue to expand our capabilities into the pharmaceutical ecosystem. Aldevron has been a great partner with us on improving VCE, which we see as a key ingredient to scaling mRNA production globally."

"I'm very excited about combining the additive strengths of Ginkgo Bioworks' development expertise and Aldevron's manufacturing horsepower to yield an optimized manufacturing method for vaccinia capping enzyme," said Tom Foti, President of Aldevron's Protein Business Unit. "Historically this enzyme has been difficult to produce, and we believe this yield breakthrough will accelerate mRNA therapeutic and vaccine development for manufacturing teams around the world."