As the European biotech industry races ahead with new developments to provide answers to the ongoing pandemic problems, the competition in the sector is getting intense.
Making its way into the race is a French company that is a pioneer in Enzymatic DNA Synthesis (EDS) for on-demand DNA printing companies. The Paris-based DNA Script has raised $200 million in its Series C Funding, which closed with the completion of the second tranche. The fresh capital is expected to accelerate the commercial launch of its revolutionary enzymatic DNA printing technology. With this latest round, the life sciences technology company has raised $315 million since its inception in 2014.
Accounts and funds advised by T. Rowe Price Associates and Baillie Gifford participated in the second tranche of the Series C, along with Healthcor Management, eureKARE, and Irving Investors. The other participants included Coatue Management, Catalio Capital Management, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Casdin Capital.
In 2021, the startup, which is also Moderna’s US-French partner, had raised €177 million in a Series C financing round to boost the commercialisation of this benchtop DNA printer.
New paradigm for DNA synthesis
The life sciences technology company founded by Sylvain Gariel, Thomas Ybert and Xavier Godron in 2014 has now expanded to create a dedicated US headquarters in San Francisco. The company is making a new, faster, more powerful and versatile way to design and manufacture nucleic acids. Developing an alternative to traditional DNA synthesis called Enzymatic DNA Synthesis, or EDS, the company’s technology will be accessible to labs with the first benchtop enzymatic synthesis instrument, the SYNTAX System.
Transforming life sciences research
The fresh capital will be used to advance the SYNTAX Platform. Creating a new paradigm for DNA and RNA synthesis, SYNTAX will empower scientists to rapidly print synthetic nucleic acids for genomics and molecular biology applications at the convenience of lab bench. On-demand printing enables labs to iterate without waiting days or weeks to receive their genetic material from third-party service providers.
“We are thrilled to partner with this world-class group of investors, including new participants Baillie Gifford and T. Rowe Price, who collectively share our vision to increase access to oligo manufacturing to accelerate the bio-revolution,” said DNA Script’s Co-founder and CEO Thomas Ybert. According to Ybert, it is the first step towards creating a new paradigm for DNA and RNA synthesis. “With the support of our investors, we look forward to continuing to advance this new paradigm to solve some of our largest challenges and advance human health.”
The startup has also partnered with French Defence Innovation Agency and French Armament General Directorate and had earlier received a contract from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) for its Molecular Information Storage (MIST) programme
Some of the most prominent startups that exist in this space in Europe are UK-based Arctoris and EnteroBiotix, Germany’s BioNTech and Sween-based Gedea Biotech.
