Concentric by Ginkgo and CGIAR International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) announce collaboration on pathogen surveillance

This collaboration aims to develop and deploy novel methods for pandemic surveillance among animals and livestock 

BOSTON and NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading horizontal platform for cell programming and biosecurity, and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), a leading organization on One Health approaches, today announced that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the intent to collaborate on pandemic surveillance work.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is a global research partnership for a food-secure future dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in the climate crisis. Through its ILRI research institute, CGIAR works to improve food and nutritional security and reduce poverty in developing countries while ensuring better lives through livestock cultivation. ILRI plans to work closely with Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, to identify and mitigate pathogens and diseases that originate in animals and livestock. 

As part of this agreement, Concentric and ILRI/CGIAR aim to develop a joint biosurveillance and pathogen testing program. They will begin with a pilot phase designed to utilize wastewater testing focused on key pathogens and antimicrobial resistant genes through passive monitoring systems beginning in Nairobi, Kenya.

"Zoonotic spillover events have been responsible for over half of novel epidemic diseases in recent decades," said Matt McKnight, General Manager, Biosecurity at Ginkgo Bioworks. "As we lay the foundation for global biosecurity infrastructure, we are thrilled to partner with ILRI/CGIAR to implement programs to detect and respond to future biological threats.".

Additionally, Concentric and ILRI/CGIAR plan to establish sequencing-based activities for pathogen identification and characterization, and bioinformatics support. As Concentric and ILRI/CGIAR continue their partnership, data from these programs could be shared with national and international stakeholders to continue critical advancements towards global biosecurity.

"ILRI plays a pivotal role in pathogen surveillance, employing a One Health approach in collaboration with a wide range of partners. As part of the CGIAR network, partnerships with private sector groups enhance pandemic preparedness to detect, respond to and blunt emerging infectious disease promptly," said Appolinaire Djikeng, director general of ILRI and senior director for CGIAR Livestock-Based Systems.

This initiative comes as part of the broader CGIAR effort via its venture initiative, the Accelerate for Impact Platform (A4IP), to co-design new collaborative opportunities between CGIAR centers and leading science-driven companies, with the aim to develop and deploy disruptive innovations to transform food systems. This partnership between Concentric and CGIAR's ILRI center is an important step to create more opportunities between science-driven companies and research organizations to overcome the barriers often separating science research and impact at scale. Through brokering this project and future joint opportunities, the A4IP and its partners drive forward the promise of multidisciplinary collaborations to break down traditional research silos to inspire action and accelerate the impact of innovation.

About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to prevent, detect, and respond to a wide variety of biological threats. For more information, visit ginkgobioworks.com andconcentricbyginkgo.com, read our blog, or follow us on social media channels such as X (formerly known as Twitter (@Ginkgo and @ConcentricByGBW), Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks and @ConcentricByGinkgo), Threads (@GinkgoBioworks), or LinkedIn.

About the International Livestock Research Institute of CGIAR
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is a non-profit institution working for better lives through livestock. ILRI delivers science-based practices, provides scientific evidence and develops capacity in livestock development. Working in extensive partnerships, ILRI helps people in developing countries keep their farm animals alive and productive, increase their livestock and farm productivity in sustainable ways, find profitable markets for their animal products, and reduce the risk of livestock-related human diseases. Employing more than 600 staff and operating an annual budget of about USD100 million, ILRI is co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia and operates 11 other regional (4) and country (7) offices in Africa (Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe) and Asia (India, Nepal, China and Vietnam). Australian animal scientist Peter Doherty, a former ILRI board member and co-winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, serves as ILRI's patron. ILRI is a member of CGIAR, a global research-for-development partnership conducting research in 13 centers/alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners for a food-secure future. 

About CGIAR
CGIAR works for a world with sustainable and resilient food, land, and water systems that deliver diverse, healthy, safe, sufficient, and affordable diets, and ensure improved livelihoods and greater social equality, within planetary and regional environmental boundaries. Our mission is to deliver science and innovation that advance the transformation of food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. One CGIAR is the integration of CGIAR's capabilities, knowledge, assets, people, and global presence for a new era of interconnected and partnership-driven research towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

About the CGIAR Accelerate for Impact Platform
The Accelerate for Impact Platform (A4IP) is a venture space that builds on CGIAR's legacy of Research and Innovation to co-design, accelerate and fund science-driven technologies to address some of the world's most pressing challenges. A4IP explores innovative partnership models to bridge research products from lab to market, creating demand for CGIAR science and strengthening its role in the innovation ecosystem, all while funding the most visionary teams to leverage their scientific creativity. A4IP plays a catalytic role for entrepreneurial scientists who want to be drivers of change by developing high-impact, multi-disciplinary, science-based technologies, solutions, and enterprises that make our food systems healthier, equitable, and sustainable.

Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the capabilities and potential success of the partnership and Ginkgo's biosecurity platform. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "can," "project," "potential," "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 press release, including but not limited to: (i) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo operates and plans to operate, variations in performance across competitors, and changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business, (ii) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and to identify and realize additional business opportunities, (iii) the risk of downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology, (iv) the uncertainty regarding the demand for passive monitoring programs and biosecurity services, (v) changes to the biosecurity industry, including due to advancements in technology, emerging competition and evolution in industry demands, standards and regulations, (vi) our ability to realize the expected benefits of merger and acquisition transactions, (vii) the outcome of any legal proceedings against Ginkgo, including as a result of recent acquisitions, (viii) our ability to realize the expected benefits from and the success of our Foundry platform programs, (ix) our ability to successfully develop engineered cells, bioprocesses, data packages or other deliverables, and (x) the product development or commercialization success of our customers. 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 Ginkgo's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on August 9, 2023 and other documents filed by Ginkgo from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ginkgo assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Ginkgo does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.

GINKGO MEDIA CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com

GINKGO INVESTOR CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com

ILRI MEDIA CONTACT:
David Aronson: d.aronson@cgiar.org
Tel: +254717868916

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SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks