Ginkgo Bioworks Acquires Biotechnology Startup Novogy's Microbial Engineering Platform

Ginkgo Bioworks (“Ginkgo”), the organism company, today announced that it has recently completed an acquisition of the main assets of Novogy, Inc. (“Novogy”). Ginkgo will absorb Novogy’s strain assets and IP portfolio and integrate Novogy’s codebase and deep expertise in lipid production into Ginkgo’s bioengineering platform. Most of Novogy’s talented technical team has also joined Ginkgo, as Ginkgo continues to scale and harness the power of biology to meet increased demand for more sustainable, efficient sources of bio-based oils.

Microbes, particularly oleaginous yeasts, are a promising source of sustainable, bio-based fats and oils. Novogy modifies oleaginous yeasts to enhance yield and generate molecules for environmentally-friendly products. Novogy has developed best-in-class lipid-producing yeast strains over the past decade, with a particular focus on Yarrowia lipolytica. Ginkgo will be able to use Novogy’s assets to accelerate development of a range of commodities and fine chemicals and materials.

“At the core of Novogy’s technology is a deep understanding of how to engineer biology to build better products,” said Vasiliki Tsakraklides, a Program Director who recently joined Ginkgo from Novogy. “This transaction with Ginkgo will allow the talent and expertise Novogy has developed to continue driving bioprocesses that deliver benefits on a global scale.”

“We are thrilled to bring Novogy’s expertise and impressive codebase into the Ginkgo fold,” said Patrick Boyle, Ginkgo’s Head of Codebase. “The breadth of Ginkgo’s customer base and platform capabilities combined with Novogy’s significant progress to-date means that we can put these assets to work right away. We have already identified new products and applications with this technology, and we look forward to finding more ways to not only utilize this platform but continue to make improvements to expand its use in a wide range of industries.”