NEW YORK – Genome editing firm Inscripta said on Wednesday that it has acquired two synthetic biology firms, Infinome Biosciences and Sestina Bio, for an undisclosed amount. The moves suggest the firm has pivoted to biomanufacturing, away from genome editing instrumentation.
Infinome, based in Boulder, Colorado, has developed a platform for rapidly engineering microbial strains, dubbed GenoScaler. Inscripta invested in Infinome in March 2021, calling it the firm's "first subsidiary" at the time.
Sestina Bio, located in Pleasanton, California, has developed an approach for building and identifying strains that can withstand scale-up to the levels needed for commercial biomanufacturing. In October, the firms announced that Sestina Bio had used Inscripta's Onyx genome editing platform to develop a microbial strain that can produce bakuchiol, a potential skincare ingredient.
"Tackling the unprecedented opportunity to improve global health and sustainability through biomanufacturing requires a strong combination of talent, experience, technology, and commercial assets," Inscripta CEO Sri Kosaraju said in a statement. "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."
Financial and other terms of the deals were not disclosed.
The acquisitions and accompanying statement suggest that Inscripta has shifted its focus, as it was rumored to have done in December when it laid off at least 43 people and closed its San Diego and Boulder, Colorado, facilities. The firm is now based in Pleasanton, California.
Inscripta's statement also noted that Infinome has partnered with Kalsec, a food and beverage ingredient maker, to develop and commercialize multiple biomanufactured products.