Ginkgo Bioworks , the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, today announced the purchase of certain epidemiological data infrastructure assets from Baktus, Inc., a Delaware-based public benefit corporation. Under the terms of the deal, Ginkgo will assume ownership of proprietary datasets, modeling and analytic tools, and a software platform with the capabilities to track, model, and forecast epidemics and associated risks and impacts. Ginkgo also expects to integrate several ongoing epidemiological analysis projects and a team of epidemiological data experts into its biosecurity and public health initiative, Concentric by Ginkgo.
Baktus, through its subsidiary, Metabiota, Inc., has built an extensive database of infectious disease outbreaks. In addition to epidemiological tracking and forecasting, the company created specialized data infrastructure to help governments and other partners understand and model the risks and disruptive impacts of pathogens in order to promote resilience to pandemics and epidemics. Baktus and Metabiota are expected to continue their independent operations after transferring the assets and epidemiological data personnel included in this transaction.
"We believe robust public health data is the bedrock of biosecurity—it's what enables public health leaders to direct resources where they're needed the most and researchers to develop targeted vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. "Integrating state-of-the-art epidemiological modeling and predictive capabilities with our end-to-end biosecurity offerings will help us continue making the data we gather on pathogen spread and evolution that much more meaningful and actionable for public health leaders and communities."
Matt McKnight, General Manager for Biosecurity at Ginkgo
"Our team has spent nearly a decade building epidemiological data and risk modeling tools for the public and private sector to more effectively quantify, mitigate and manage epidemic risk. This transaction demonstrates the importance of these efforts and capabilities," said Nita Madhav, outgoing CEO of Metabiota, who will be joining Ginkgo as part of the transaction. "Ginkgo's biosecurity initiative is an ideal home for our data, analytics, and expertise, and we are very excited to join the Ginkgo team."
Concentric has built a large-scale biosecurity platform, bolstered by a nationwide laboratory and operational network, to deliver comprehensive COVID-19 monitoring programs and services across thousands of sites in the U.S., including schools, airports, and other congregate settings. Concentric is building upon this foundation to create a sustainable global biosecurity infrastructure to help detect, mitigate and respond to a wide variety of biological threats, and we expect this transaction to be a key milestone towards developing that infrastructure.
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.