SynBio Coalition in Review: Q1 2023
April 3, 2023
The synthetic biology industry has seen tremendous momentum in early 2023 as the U.S. government continues to highlight the importance of a robust bioeconomy and sets new, bold goals to advance American biotechnology and biomanufacturing. The SynBio Coalition represents the leading companies and academic organizations in the industry that are paving the way for synthetic biology and advocating for greater prioritization and investment in the space.
As Q1 of 2023 comes to a close, we are excited to share the recent milestones and achievements from some of the SynBio Coalition members:
On the blog: Antheia published the first in its new educational blog series on synthetic chemistry. In the first installation, Antheia covers the basics of synthetic chemistry and how it compares to synthetic biology and the forthcoming series will discuss how it can serve as a complementary tool to synthetic biology in transforming pharmaceutical supply chains. Read more: Synthetic Biology vs Synthetic Chemistry: A Primer.
New talent: Antheia also welcomed Jesse Ahrendt, SVP of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs to its team. In this new role, Jesse will lead the development of Antheia’s quality systems as part of the validation process and scale up for the company’s commercial pipeline. You can learn more about Jesse and his plans at Antheia here. Antheia is hiring for a few key roles – please find the company’s open job reqs here.
In the news: CEO and co-founder, Christina Smolke was recognized in Forbes as one of the synthetic biology industry’s leading women founders. Read more: 10 Women Founders Taking The Synthetic Biology World By Storm.
In the news: In February, Checkerspot announced a raise of $55M Series C funding to meet growing demand for renewable and biobased products and materials. The round was led by ArrowMark with participation from new investor, Cox Enterprises, and others.
Industry recognition: Checkerspot is also thrilled to announce its Pollinator™ Kit won the SXSW Innovation Award in the Design category. Checkerspot launched the direct-to-designer kit last fall, allowing creators of all scales to prototype and build with ≥56% USDA certified biobased content polyurethane (ASTM D6866).
Industry recognition: Checkerspot's outdoor recreation brand, WNDR® Alpine, received Outdoor Retailer's Innovation Award for its Intention 108 skis, which feature the most advanced construction of algae-derived and recycled materials Checkerspot has created to date.
In the news: Geno welcomed an additional founding member, L’Oreal, to the company’s venture to scale alternatives to critical ingredients like palm oil in cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products. With additional partners like Unilever and Kao, Geno is building more resilient, sustainable and humane supply chains for large-scale material markets, as well as addressing the critical needs of brands to create more transparency and traceability. The news was highlighted in WWD.
In the news: Geno joined the EU based Renewable Carbon Initiative, which is dedicated to helping the chemicals and materials sectors to meet the ambitious climate goals set by the European Union.
In the news: Ginkgo announced the opening of Bioworks7, the latest expansion of its biological engineering foundry. With this new space, Ginkgo increases its capacity and capabilities to serve its partners in gene and cell therapy, biomanufacturing and general mammalian programming for therapeutic applications.
In the news: Ginkgo also announced several new partnerships, such as its collaboration with Prokarium to discover targets for RNA therapeutics and immuno-oncology, Esperovax to develop circular RNA-based therapeutics, and NAMUH to develop infant nutrition products.
Events: Join us in Boston on April 19 for Ferment - a free, annual conference celebrating the synthetic biology ecosystem. Learn more here and reach out to mpaden@ginkgobioworks.com for a registration access code.
In the news: In February, Synonym released a first-of-its-kind State of Global Fermentation Capacity Report that offers new and valuable details on fermentation facilities by geography, bioreactor sizes, product expertise and more. Download a free copy at www.capacitor.bio/trends.
Industry recognition: In March, Synonym passed 2,000 registered users, 30 million liters of capacity inventoried and 200 facilities uploaded to Capacitor, its free global database of fermentation infrastructure built for synbio startups to find facilities to scale.
Events: Throughout the quarter, Synonym attended and spoke at several key industry conferences, including the Fermentation-Enabled Protein (FEP) Summit in San Francisco. At FEP, Synonym’s Chief Investment Officer, Brentan Alexander, delivered a session on Strategies For Financing Biomanufacturing Capacity, a topic that is a crucial piece in scaling fermentation innovation.
Follow the SynBio Coalition on LinkedIn and Twitter for more.