Codex DNA Announces Licensing and Supply Deal with TriLink Biotechnologies for CleanCap® mRNA Capping Technology

SAN DIEGO, July 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Codex DNA, Inc. (NASDAQ: DNAY), a pioneer in automated benchtop synthetic biology systems, today announced a licensing and supply agreement with TriLink Biotechnologies, part of Maravai LifeSciences (NASDAQ: MRVI), for its industry-leading CleanCap® technology. Codex DNA will integrate the mRNA capping technology into its suite of automated mRNA synthesis kits for the BioXp™ system as well as within the company’s BioFoundry Services offering. Together, the technologies are expected to increase productivity and yields for mRNA synthesis workflows, potentially opening the doors for a broader range of downstream therapeutic and vaccine applications.

Therapeutics and vaccines have become increasingly dependent on mRNA. However, the manual, multi-step process required to build mRNA is tedious and often fraught with technical difficulties and bottlenecks that require long turnaround times.

Codex DNA’s new BioXp small-scale mRNA synthesis kit with CleanCap reagents is expected to overcome many of these challenges by increasing the yields and productivity of synthetically designed mRNA products. Customers will now have the option to generate up to 16 biologically active mRNA constructs at a yield of at least 10 micrograms each from fully de novo synthesized and error-corrected genes in a single automated run. These combined technologies increase the fraction of translationally active mRNA during transcription, which simplifies and shortens the mRNA manufacturing process and results in higher levels of protein production.

“We are passionate about improving the quality and output of mRNA synthesis workflow, and excited to collaborate with the synthesis pioneers at Codex DNA to bring CleanCap technology to a broader audience,” said Jeff Whitmore, Vice President Commercial Operations at TriLink Biotechnologies. “We believe our combined technologies will help users move therapeutic candidates more quickly from preclinical to clinical production stages.”

“The TriLink CleanCap technology is the current industry standard for capping mRNA and this collaboration enables us to expand the range of applications for our award-winning BioXp system,” said Todd R. Nelson, PhD, CEO of Codex DNA. “Our customers will be able to take advantage of significant time and cost savings during the design-build-test phases for identifying mRNA-based vaccine and therapeutic candidates.”

About TriLink BioTechnologies

TriLink BioTechnologies, part of Maravai LifeSciences, is a CDMO helping life science leaders and innovators overcome challenges in the synthesis and scale-up of nucleic acids, NTPs and mRNA capping analogs with scale-up expertise and unique mRNA production capabilities, including its proprietary CleanCap® mRNA capping technology. TriLink continues to expand its cGMP and general manufacturing capacity at its new global headquarters to support mRNA, oligonucleotide & plasmid therapeutic, vaccine and diagnostic customers. www.trilinkbiotech.com

About Maravai LifeSciences
Maravai is a leading life sciences company providing critical products to enable the development of drug therapies, diagnostics, novel vaccines and support research on human diseases. Maravai’s companies are leaders in providing products and services in the fields of nucleic acid synthesis, bioprocess impurity detection and analysis, and protein labeling and detection to many of the world’s leading biopharmaceutical, vaccine, diagnostics, and cell and gene therapy companies.
For more information about Maravai LifeSciences, visit www.maravai.com.

About Codex DNA

Codex DNA is a synthetic biology company focused on enabling researchers to rapidly, accurately and reproducibly build or “write” high-quality synthetic DNA and mRNA that is ready to use in many downstream synthetic biology enabled markets. Codex DNA’s synthetic biology solution addresses the bottlenecks across the multi-step process of building DNA and mRNA, as well as the significant limitations of existing solutions that prevent the rapid building of virtually error-free DNA and mRNA at a useable scale. A key part of Codex DNA’s solution is the BioXp™ system, an end-to-end automated workstation that fits on the benchtop and is broadly accessible due to its ease-of-use and hands-free automation. Codex DNA believes the BioXp™ system can democratize synthetic biology by simplifying the process of building DNA and mRNA, thereby accelerating the discovery, development, and production of novel high-value products, including antibody-based biologics, mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics and precision medicines.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such forward-looking statements are based on Codex DNA’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to it on the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Codex DNA’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements include but are not limited to statements regarding Codex DNA’s ability to successfully integrate the CleanCap technology into its products or the combined solution’s ability to increase productivity and yields. These and other risks are described more fully in Codex DNA’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and other documents that Codex DNA subsequently files with the SEC from time to time. Except to the extent required by law, Codex DNA undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

Codex DNA, the Codex DNA logo, Gibson Assembly, and BioXp are trademarks of Codex DNA Inc.