Ambrosia aims to make the production of allulose, a next-generation sugar replacement, more scalable and affordable

JERUSALEM and BOSTON, June 29, 2023  /PRNewswire/ -- Ambrosia Bio, an Israeli foodtech company developing novel bioprocesses for the global sugar replacement industry, and Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, today announced that Ambrosia Bio will leverage Ginkgo Enzyme Services, including its proprietary chassis organisms, to develop an expression strain for the scalable production of the Ambrosia Bio proprietary enzymes used for the conversion of feedstock into allulose.

Allulose is an FDA-approved rare sugar that is found in figs, raisins, wheat, maple syrup, and molasses but occurs naturally only in small amounts. Unlike other currently available sweeteners, allulose has a low caloric value – typically under 10% compared to equivalent amounts of sucrose – giving it the ability to minimally impact blood glucose and insulin levels while maintaining sugar's sensory and culinary properties. 

Mass production of allulose requires enzymatic conversion of common carbohydrates, but many of the natural enzymes available on the market today lack stability and effectiveness. Over the past three years of stealth mode development, Ambrosia Bio has successfully developed a unique bioprocess using proprietary enzymes alongside a complementary production process to affordably and scalably convert lower-margin feedstocks (e.g., sugar and starch) into rare sugars and specialized ingredients such as allulose. Ambrosia Bio's proprietary approach has remarkable process stability and fidelity across long periods of time and temperature fluctuations, proving highly effective relative to current benchmarks. Ultimately, Ambrosia Bio, whose product is being evaluated in applications and formulations by customers that include one of the largest international food and beverage producers as well as a global sugar manufacturer, aims to replace the costly and cumbersome allulose production processes currently used by ingredient manufacturers worldwide, helping to democratize the global use of allulose.

To further optimize its process, Ambrosia Bio will leverage Ginkgo Enzyme Services, an end-to-end service powered by ultra-high throughput screening and machine learning-guided protein design, to aid its goal of producing an optimized version of its proprietary enzyme in a productive expression strain. In particular, Ambrosia Bio seeks to benefit from access to Ginkgo's extensive strain engineering Codebase, as well as Ginkgo's Foundry capabilities in enzyme expression and analytical chemistry, to develop a more scalable and affordable commercial allulose solution.

"Ginkgo has established itself as a global leader in the synthetic biology ecosystem and precision fermentation space," said Ziv Zwighaft, Founder and CEO at Ambrosia Bio. "With end-to-end capabilities, Ginkgo is a one-stop shop that can enable Ambrosia Bio to expand global allulose availability. We aim to provide affordable options for key sugar production players, as well as leading global brands in the food and beverage space, many of whom are looking for a sugar replacement that does not compromise the superb consumption experience offered by their products."

"We are excited to partner with Ambrosia to enhance their enzymatic innovation for the sugar replacement industry," said Mervyn de Souza, Senior Director of Business Development at Ginkgo Bioworks. "Ambrosia Bio's high-performance enzymes and its conjugated allulose production process have the potential to significantly reduce the cost associated with the mass production of allulose, paving the way to reduced-sugar products without compromising taste or other key sensory traits."

To learn more about Ginkgo's work in this space, join us on June 30th from 10:00 - 11:00 am ET for our Functional Food Proteins with Microbial Expression Systems virtual event.

About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to prevent, detect, and respond to a wide variety of biological threats. For more information, visit ginkgobioworks.com and concentricbyginkgo.com, read our blog, or follow us on social media channels such as Twitter (@Ginkgo and @ConcentricByGBW), Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks and @ConcentricByGinkgo), or LinkedIn.

About Ambrosia
Ambrosia Bio is a foodtech company that revamps sugar refineries into specialty ingredient production sites. Ambrosia developed a proprietary enzyme-based biotechnological platform and a complete production process capable of converting everyday sugars into low- to no-calorie rare sugars, including allulose, and dietary fibers (scFOS) in a cost-effective manner. Ambrosia is proposing a plug-and-play solution which seamlessly plugs into the sugar producer's manufacturing SOPs without modification. By diverting part of the sugar production stream via Ambrosia's system, the sugar producer is flexible in balancing its production between conventional and high-end portfolio products year-round. For more information, visit www.ambrosia.bio or simply drop us a mail at zivz@ambrosia.bio.

Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the capabilities and potential success of the partnership and Ginkgo's cell programming platform. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "can," "project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo operates and plans to operate, variations in performance across competitors, and changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business, (ii) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and to identify and realize additional business opportunities, (iii) the risk of downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology, (iv) the unpredictability of the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the demand for COVID-19 testing and the commercial viability of our COVID-19 testing business, (v) changes to the biosecurity industry, including due to advancements in technology, emerging competition and evolution in industry demands, standards and regulations, (vi) our ability to realize the expected benefits of merger and acquisition transactions, (vii) the outcome of any legal proceedings against Ginkgo, including as a result of recent acquisitions, (viii) our ability to realize the expected benefits from and the success of our Foundry platform programs, (ix) our ability to successfully develop engineered cells, bioprocesses, data packages or other deliverables, and (x) the product development or commercialization success of our customers. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of Ginkgo's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on May 10, 2023 and other documents filed by Ginkgo from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ginkgo assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Ginkgo does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.

AMBROSIA CONTACT:
zivz@ambrosia.bio

GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com

GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com

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SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks