Cronos Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) (TSX: CRON) (“Cronos Group”), an innovative global cannabinoid company, and Ginkgo Bioworks (“Ginkgo”), which is building the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, today announced the achievement of the first target productivity milestone in their partnership to produce eight cultured cannabinoids. Ginkgo, which recently announced a business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: SRNG), serves customers across industries seeking to develop new and better products using biology. Using Ginkgo’s platform for organism design and development, Cronos Group has successfully achieved the productivity target for cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), which will support the Cronos Group’s planned CBG product launch this fall.
Launched in 2018 with the goal of accessing rare molecules in the cannabis plant in order to create innovative and differentiated products that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive, the partnership between Cronos Group and Ginkgo aims to develop eight molecules. The program convenes Cronos Group’s deep understanding of the biological structure and function of cannabinoids with Ginkgo’s unparalleled experience designing microorganisms for the production of cultured products across pharmaceuticals, agriculture and more.
“As leading companies in our respective industries, Cronos Group and Ginkgo are uniquely positioned to elevate the cannabis industry through cannabinoid and product innovation to unlock the next generation of its potential,” said Kurt Schmidt, President and CEO of Cronos Group. “Ginkgo’s platform enables companies across a multitude of industries to reach their customers with better products. We are proud to use our combined capabilities to make the benefits of cannabinoids more accessible to consumers.”
“Cell programming can enable access to rare and important molecules found in nature, such as cannabinoids, and we’re proud to be able to help many different companies across industries develop strategies for using biology to innovate new products,” said Jason Kelly, CEO and Co-Founder of Ginkgo Bioworks. “We’re thrilled to see the progress our partnership with Cronos Group has made in the three years we have been working together and consider it a demonstration of how much can be accomplished when a leading-edge company applies our platform.”
As a result of the achievement of the final productivity target for CBGA, Cronos Group will issue to Ginkgo approximately 1.5 million common shares.
