Aldevron-Ginkgo Bioworks partnership yields mRNA manufacturing 'breakthrough'

Aldevron, a research to good manufacturing practice (GMP) biomanufacturer of plasmid DNA (pDNA), mRNA, and proteins, and Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc., a biotech company that is building a platform for cell programming, revealed a new development surrounding their strategic partnership.

Specifically, the parties have been working together in an agreement formed earlier this year to enhance production of mRNA vaccine components. The partnership, according to the companies, has resulted in improvements in manufacturing yield of the vaccinia capping enzyme (VCE), a component that is often required to produce mRNA therapies and vaccines. Aldevron has the exclusive rights to the protocol conditions of the newly developed manufacturing process, which is over 10 times more efficient than the previous process, the company says.

"I'm very excited about combining the additive strengths of Ginkgo Bioworks' development expertise and Aldevron's manufacturing horsepower to yield an optimized manufacturing method for vaccinia capping enzyme," notes Tom Foti, president of Aldevron's protein business unit. "Historically, this enzyme has been difficult to produce, and we believe this yield breakthrough will accelerate mRNA therapeutic and vaccine development for manufacturing teams around the world."