Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE:DNA) announced a new contract with the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and partners—Tritica Biosciences, US Pharmacopeia, On Demand Pharmaceuticals, and Isolere Bio by Donaldson—to develop the distributed manufacturing of essential medicines using wheat germ cell-free expression systems.
According to Ginkgo, the two-year program, titled Wheat-based High efficiency Enzyme and API Technology (WHEAT), aims to establish a new manufacturing process for the distributed production of biologic and small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients using wheat germ cell-free expression systems.
In a statement, Jesse Dill, senior director of business development at Grinkgo, said, “We are thrilled for the opportunity to work on this exciting project with ARPA-H and our teammates to allow Americans to reap the benefits when we bring together innovations in farm and pharma.”
“From small molecule compounds to biologics, we believe this project can sow the seeds of medical innovation, growing a new manufacturing paradigm for essential medicines using affordable cell-free biological processes, to reshore and stabilize these critical, life-saving supply chains,” he added.
