Biotech company Ginkgo Bioworks announced a collaboration with Pfizer, worth up to $331 million, focused on discovering new RNA-based drug candidates.
Through the partnership, Pfizer will use Ginkgo's biotechnology to discover and develop novel RNA molecules. While Ginkgo will receive the upfront payment of up to $331 million, it could also receive revenue from royalties on potential future sales, according to a Sept. 27 Ginkgo news release.
Ginkgo's platform aims to achieve efficient production, circularization, improved stability and enhanced translation of individual RNA constructs.
"RNA therapeutics are proving to be an important platform to advance the world of scientific innovation, and with progress in synthetic biology we have the potential to create new RNA treatments that may benefit patients worldwide," Pfizer's Head of Biomedicine Design Will Somers, PhD, said in the news release. "Access to Ginkgo's proprietary platform will help enable Pfizer to search for novel and exciting RNA constructs with improved stability and expression that could lead to more effective treatments."