Ginkgo Bioworks Awarded DARPA Contract to Reimagine the Manufacturing of Complex Therapeutic Proteins

(July 19, 2023) | By BioSpace.

ARLINGTON, Va. and BOSTON, July 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited — Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced that Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, has been awarded a 4-year contract worth up to $18 million to reimagine how to manufacture complex therapeutic proteins. As a performer on DARPA’s Reimagining Protein Manufacturing (RPM) project, Ginkgo aims to deliver revolutionary advances in on-demand protein manufacturing by leveraging Cell-Free Protein Synthesis (CFPS) to enable rapid, high-yield, distributed production of human therapeutic proteins that support national security objectives. Ginkgo will lead a team comprising representatives from Imperial College London, led by Prof. Paul Freemont, Nature’s Toolbox, Inc., led by Alex Koglin, and consultant Michael Feldhaus (former Executive VP of Antibody Discovery at Adimab).