INDUSTRIAL IMPACT, MEDICAL
Inscripta, Inc. | January 24, 2023
Inscripta®, a leading global life science technology firm, recently announced the acquisition of two synthetic biology pioneers, Infinome Biosciences and Sestina Bio, which will advance Inscripta's strategy of developing and commercializing biomanufactured products for a wide expanse of industrial and consumer markets.
The acquisitions show Inscripta's belief in the bioeconomy's commercial potential and the power of genome engineering to expedite biomanufacturing innovation. Inscripta's CEO, Sri Kosaraju, commented, "Tackling the unprecedented opportunity to improve global health and sustainability through biomanufacturing requires a strong combination of talent, experience, technology, and commercial assets." He added, "Infinome and Sestina Bio allow us to advance our strategy and complement our technological innovation and capabilities needed for creating the next generation of biobased manufacturing products and processes."
(Source- PR Newswire)
Before the acquisition, Infinome was closely associated with Inscripta. By utilizing Inscripta's genome engineering technology, it created the GenoScaler™, a proprietary strain engineering platform designed to optimize microorganisms for biomanufacturing rapidly.
Sestina Bio brings an innovative, data-driven approach to developing and identifying strains that survive the rigors of commercial scale-up.
Inscripta is building on its tradition of technological innovation with the inclusion of Infinome and Sestina Bio and has already begun applying its cutting-edge technology to develop products for a diverse set of industrial and consumer markets. In addition, Inscripta has a number of collaborative and proprietary products in various phases of development. One such example of an announced partnership to develop and commercialize multiple bio-manufactured goods is Kalsec® Inc., a food and beverage ingredient solutions firm. Separately, Inscripta is engaging in commercial discussions about its previously announced development of a ready-to-scale microbial strain that produces Bakuchiol, a natural retinol alternative.
About Inscripta, Inc.
Founded in 2015, Inscripta is a life science technology firm dedicated to using biomanufacturing to create a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable world. It enables scientists to strengthen and expand domestic biomanufacturing and encourages the development of novel, safe, and secure biotechnology technologies. Its automated OnyxTM platform, which includes an instrument, consumables, tests, and software, makes CRISPR-based genome engineering accessible to any research lab. Inscripta supports customers globally through its facilities in Boulder (Colorado), San Diego and Pleasanton (California) and Copenhagen (Denmark)
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MEDTECH, INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
BioNTech and InstaDeep | January 12, 2023
BioNTech and InstaDeep Ltd. recently signed an agreement wherein the former is set to acquire InstaDeep, a worldwide leader in AI and ML technologies.
The acquisition involves a total upfront payment of about £362 million in cash, while BioNTech shares will be used to buy the remaining 100% of InstaDeep shares, excluding those currently held by BioNTech.
The acquisition strengthens BioNTech's aim to establish world-leading abilities in AI-driven drug discovery and develop vaccines as well as next-generation immunotherapies to treat diseases with significant unmet medical needs. In addition, the company will enhance its network of worldwide research collaborators and expand its presence in many talent hubs throughout the United States, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe due to the acquisition.
With the acquisition of InstaDeep, BioNTech's proven and new AI- and ML-based models will be added to all of its discovery platforms and linked to an automated lab infrastructure through InstaDeep's DeepChainTM platform.
MD, CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech, Prof. Ugur Sahin, said, "Since the inception of BioNTech, we have focused on leveraging computational solutions to create personalized immunotherapies that can reach a wide patient population."
(Source: Globe Newswire)
Adding to this, CEO and Co-Founder of InstaDeep, Karim Beguir, stated, "AI is progressing exponentially and our mission at InstaDeep has always been to make sure it benefits everyone. We are very excited to join forces and become one team with BioNTech, with whom we share the same culture of deep tech innovation and focus on positive human impact."
(Source: Globe Newswire)
About BioNTech
BioNTech is a fully-integrated and worldwide leader in immunotherapy. It has been focusing on automating and digitizing processes and developing capacities for the specialized production of individual vaccinations and large-scale goods, such as the COVID-19 vaccine. As immunotherapy pioneers, the company believes that science and innovation can make a difference for humankind. Therefore, since the beginning, it has focused on harnessing the immune system's total capacity to combat cancer and infectious diseases.
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AI
Benchling | January 27, 2023
On January 27, 2023, Benchling, the R&D cloud that powers the biotechnology sector, announced that it has passed the System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 certification. Schellman, an independent Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm, conducted the Type 2 SOC 2 test according to the AICPA's SOC 2 standards.
Type 2 SOC 2 evaluates the design and operational performance of an organization's security processes and controls to meet its security goals and customer commitments during a predetermined evaluation period. Constant monitoring, evaluation, and modification of the requirements and security measures guarantee a secure environment for doing business.
The CISO at Benchling, Zach Powers, said, "Biotechs are managing an evolving landscape of security and compliance risks, and they require trusted software partners to help them meet these demands." He added, "At Benchling, we make the security, privacy, and compliance of our customers' sensitive data a company-wide, critical investment, not only through Type 2 SOC 2, but also through our best-in-class security team, our trust-but-verify processes, and our adherence to global compliance standards."
(Source – PR Newswire)
Benchling's R&D Cloud is the biotech R&D platform of choice, trusted by over 1,000 organizations worldwide in highly regulated areas such as biopharmaceuticals, agribusiness, industrials, and consumer packaged goods. Benchling is used by customers to securely store, standardize, and analyze crucial data related to the design and development of innovative biotech products. Benchling's objective is to protect client data; hence, the firm utilizes sophisticated data security and privacy protections and complies with tight regulatory regulations such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. The organization is also ISO 27001 certified.
The successful completion of Benchling's Type 2 SOC 2 inspection assures that its biotech clients can conduct crucial R&D work in the Benchling R&D Cloud while following the highest security requirements.
About Benchling
Benchling is a San Francisco-based firm that focuses on private and public life science cooperation by developing cloud-based software tools for digital DNA sequence editing, planning and performing experiments, evaluating data, and sharing research. More than 200,000 scientists from over 1,000 firms and 7,500 university and research institutions worldwide have used the Benchling R&D Cloud to create breakthrough discoveries and deliver the next generation of medicines, foods, and materials to market more quickly. In addition, the R&D cloud assists these companies in modernizing their scientific processes and accelerating their cooperation to transform the complexity of biology into world-changing outcomes.
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