UK pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and synthetic DNA startup Elegen announced a collaboration and licensing agreement to integrate Elegen’s DNA manufacturing into the development of GSK’s vaccines and medicines. The multiyear deal includes GSK providing Elegen with up to $35 million in near-term financial and development support, along with purchase commitments for synthetic DNA. Additional components of the agreement involve potential near-term milestone payments tied to the development of new product features and the possibility of an equity investment by GSK in Elegen.
Elegen, founded in 2017 and emerging from stealth in 2022, specializes in providing synthetic DNA ranging from 1 kb to 7 kb with rapid turnaround and a low error rate of 1 in 70,000, offered at a cost of $.25 per base. The collaboration aims to leverage Elegen’s cell-free DNA manufacturing technology, which enables quick, accurate, and complex production without the need for iterative processes like cloning, linearizing, and purifying plasmid DNA.
Matthew Hill, Founder and CEO of Elegen, highlighted the speed, length, accuracy, and complexity of their DNA manufacturing technology, emphasizing its potential in the clinical production of genetic medicines, including mRNA, cell, and viral gene therapies. GSK’s involvement adds them to the list of Elegen’s publicly disclosed customers, alongside Ginkgo Bioworks and Ensoma. Elegen’s technology, in contrast to traditional mRNA synthesis methods, produces DNA entirely cell-free, offering a seamless transition from discovery to clinical scale-up and potentially saving considerable time and resources in the process. The specific terms and details of the collaboration remain undisclosed.