Zymtronix, Gingko Bioworks Forge Strategic Partnership to Advance Cell-free Enzymatic Systems

By Alex Keown
March 8, 2023

Durham-based Zymtronix will pair its proprietary cell-free platform with enzymes developed by Ginkgo Bioworks to augment the production of ingredients for food, agriculture, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

The partnership with Boston-based Ginkgo Bioworks will allow Zymtronix to extend its cell-free solutions for multiple markets, Stéphane Corgié, the chief executive and chief technical officer of Zymtronix explained. Ginkgo will harness the capabilities of its suite of enzyme services to engineer enzymes for Zymtronix’s applications through metagenomic enzyme discovery as well as improve enzyme expression and production host performance.

“We are super excited about this relationship with Ginkgo,” Corgié said. “We are getting access to multiple enzyme candidates that will behave properly for the process we are developing.”

Financial details were not disclosed.

Zymtronix’s cell-free platform is designed to enable the production of a broad range of chemicals and molecules through enzymatic biocatalysis. The company believes this approach will solve challenges associated with traditional biocatalysis and seeks to enable the production of a wide range of products with precision and productivity. The platform is designed to immobilize enzymes and multi-enzyme systems on its ceramic scaffolds with little to no loss in enzyme activity. This allows multiple enzymes to work together in order to produce target molecules locked by traditional constraints, Corgié noted.

Corgié said Ginkgo, widely known for its end-to-end enzyme services, is in a unique position to support Zymtronix with both enzyme engineering and strain expression. This will enable the company to rapidly accelerate toward commercialization of multiple end-market products.

The partnership developed over the course of several years following the COVID-19 outbreak, Corgié said. The Ginkgo platform was well-known to company leadership and was an appealing option because the enzymes produced there will allow Zymtronix to get to the “next level” for productivity.

Working with Ginkgo will open up new biological possibilities for Zymtronix and its cell-free platform, said Adam Monroe, company president and chief operating officer.

“We’re taking the cell free trend to another revolutionary level,” Monroe said. “Working together will allow us to open completely new products and possibilities.”

This will be possible due to the fermentation capabilities perfected by Ginkgo, Monroe said. This leads to new possibilities for rare molecules, which can be difficult to access.

A spinout of Cornell University, Zymtronix relocated to the Research Triangle Park from Ithaca, New York. Corgié said they selected the region for multiple reasons. Zymtronix’s cell free platform can be used in multiple industries, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and food development. Corgié noted the RTP area has a wide number of companies in all three of those areas who are potential partners.

Additionally, RTP has a wealth of existing talent. An additional perk for the company was the number of educational institutes churning out future talent that could support the growth of Zymtronix. He noted the curriculums at the schools fit well with the booming bioeconomy. The company currently has a headcount of 23 employees. Corgié said the company intends to expand its headcount as well as its product capabilities.