BOSTON, Sept. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tantu, a
company engineering living biotherapeutic products to treat
gastrointestinal diseases, and Ginkgo Bioworks ("Ginkgo"), which is
building the leading horizontal platform for cell programming,
today announced a partnership to accelerate the research and
development of Tantu's therapeutic genes. Ginkgo, which recently
announced a business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition
Corp. (Nasdaq: SRNG), serves customers across industries seeking to
develop new and better products using biology.
Tantu is working to create an orally administered, living
biotherapeutic that will produce and apply anti-inflammatory
therapeutic proteins directly into diseased sites in the gut,
resulting in improved gut barrier function and faster mucosal
healing in patients where systemic anti-inflammatory therapies are
not enough. Ginkgo plans to apply its automated foundry to
accelerate the traditionally slow steps of candidate strain
construction and genomic integration and validation with the aim of
accelerating Tantu's first program and potentially helping them
reach clinical proof of concept in patients faster.
"Each year, 62 million Americans are diagnosed with a digestive
disorder and current treatments don't sufficiently promote
gastrointestinal healing, meaning many patients need to undergo
invasive surgeries to improve their quality of life," said Neel
Joshi, co-founder of Tantu. "A therapeutic to aid intestinal
mucosal healing could transform patient care for a significant
patient population."
"We are excited to partner with a pre-seed company like Tantu
with the goal of reducing their time-to-market because we view it
as an opportunity to invest in the biotech industry through the
startups that are driving forward so much innovation," said
Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of
Ginkgo Bioworks. "Working with Tantu provides Ginkgo with the
opportunity to leverage its expertise in pharmaceuticals to support
the development of a potentially transformative therapeutic for the
millions struggling with digestive disorders."
Companies across numerous industries use Ginkgo's cell
programming platform to find more effective, environmentally
friendly ways to create products including food ingredients,
fragrances, cosmetics, medicines, and more. By enabling the design
of organisms that can produce valuable biological products, Ginkgo
helps accelerate the development of innovative, bio-based solutions
to the world's most pressing challenges.
About Tantu Therapeutics
Tantu is developing living
biotherapeutic products to treat gastrointestinal diseases. Its
lead therapeutic candidate is an engineered microbe that produces
anti-inflammatory and healing agents from inside the gut lumen –
something that no clinically approved therapeutic currently does.
Tantu's local delivery strategy is designed to improve patient
outcomes by reducing reliance solely on systemic anti-inflammatory
drugs that can suppress the immune system. Tantu's living
biotherapeutic products are being designed to complement proven
approaches to further improve patients' health and quality of
life.
About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo is building a platform to
enable customers to program cells as easily as we can program
computers. The company's platform is enabling biotechnology
applications across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to
industrial chemicals to pharmaceuticals. Ginkgo has also actively
supported a number of COVID-19 response efforts, including K-12
pooled testing, vaccine manufacturing optimization and therapeutics
discovery. In May 2021, Ginkgo
announced a business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition
Corp. (Nasdaq: SRNG), which, if completed, will result in Ginkgo,
through a parent entity, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc., becoming a
public company. The extraordinary general meeting of Soaring
Eagle's shareholders in connection with the transaction has been
scheduled for September 14, 2021 and
the transaction is expected to close shortly thereafter, subject to
customary closing conditions. For more information,
visit www.ginkgobioworks.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
INVESTOR CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
ADDITIONAL LEGAL INFORMATION
Forward-Looking Statements Legend
This document contains certain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the federal securities laws with respect to the
proposed transaction between Ginkgo and Soaring Eagle, including
statements regarding the anticipated timing of the transaction, the
services offered by Ginkgo and the markets in which it operates,
and Ginkgo's projected future results. These forward-looking
statements generally are identified by the words "believe,"
"project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate,"
"intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may,"
"should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely
result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are
predictions, projections and other statements about future events
that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a
result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could
cause actual future events to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements in this document, including but not
limited to: (i) the risk that the transaction may not be completed
in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect the price
of Soaring Eagle's securities, (ii) the risk that the transaction
may not be completed by Soaring Eagle's business combination
deadline and the potential failure to obtain an extension of the
business combination deadline if sought by Soaring Eagle, (iii) the
failure to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the
transaction, including the adoption of the agreement and plan of
merger by the shareholders of Soaring Eagle and Ginkgo, the
satisfaction of the minimum trust account amount following
redemptions by Soaring Eagle's public shareholders and the receipt
of certain governmental and regulatory approvals, (iv) the lack of
a third party valuation in determining whether or not to pursue the
proposed transaction, (v) the occurrence of any event, change or
other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the
agreement and plan of merger, (vi) the effect of the announcement
or pendency of the transaction on Ginkgo business relationships,
performance, and business generally, (vii) risks that the proposed
transaction disrupts current plans of Ginkgo and potential
difficulties in Ginkgo employee retention as a result of the
proposed transaction, (viii) the outcome of any legal proceedings
that may be instituted against Ginkgo or against Soaring Eagle
related to the agreement and plan of merger or the proposed
transaction, (ix) the ability to maintain the listing of Soaring
Eagle's securities on Nasdaq, (x) volatility in the price of
Soaring Eagle's securities due to a variety of factors, including
changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which
Ginkgo plans to operate, variations in performance across
competitors, changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's
business and changes in the combined capital structure, (xi) the
ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other
expectations after the completion of the proposed transaction, and
identify and realize additional opportunities, and (xii) the risk
of downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology. The
foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully
consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and
uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors'' section of Soaring
Eagle's proxy statement/prospectus relating to the transaction (the
"Proxy Statement"), and in Soaring Eagle's other filings with the
SEC. Soaring Eagle and Ginkgo caution that the foregoing list of
factors is not exclusive. Soaring Eagle and Ginkgo caution readers
not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date made. Neither Soaring Eagle nor
Ginkgo undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release
publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements
to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events,
conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is
based.
Additional Information and Where to Find It
This document relates to a proposed transaction between Ginkgo
and Soaring Eagle. This document does not constitute an offer to
sell or exchange, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
exchange, any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities
in any jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or exchange would be
unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the
securities laws of any such jurisdiction. In connection with the
proposed transaction, Soaring Eagle filed a Proxy Statement on
August 13, 2021. The Proxy Statement
has been sent to all Soaring Eagle shareholders as of the record
date of August 10, 2021. Soaring
Eagle also will file other documents regarding the proposed
transaction with the SEC. Before making any voting decision,
investors and security holders of Soaring Eagle and Ginkgo are
urged to read the registration statement, the proxy
statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed or that
will be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed
transaction as they become available because they will contain
important information about the proposed transaction.
Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the
proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed
or that will be filed with the SEC by Soaring Eagle through the
website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. In addition, the
documents filed by Soaring Eagle may be obtained free of charge by
written request to Soaring Eagle at 955 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10075, Attention: Eli Baker, Chief Financial Officer, (310)
209-7280.
Participants in Solicitation
Soaring Eagle and Ginkgo and their respective directors and
officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of
proxies from Soaring Eagle's shareholders in connection with the
proposed transaction. Information about Soaring Eagle's directors
and executive officers and their ownership of Soaring Eagle's
securities is set forth in Soaring Eagle's filings with the SEC. To
the extent that holdings of Soaring Eagle's securities have changed
since the amounts printed in Soaring Eagle's proxy statement, such
changes have been or will be reflected on Statements of Change in
Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC. Additional information
regarding the interests of those persons and other persons who may
be deemed participants in the proposed transaction may be obtained
by reading the proxy statement/prospectus regarding the proposed
transaction when it becomes available. You may obtain free copies
of these documents as described in the preceding paragraph.
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SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks
