October.17.2022
Orrick advised Bayer on its three-year strategic partnership with biotech company Ginkgo Bioworks to accelerate the research and development of biological products for agriculture. In addition to the partnership, the transaction included the divestment of Bayer’s 175,000-square-foot West Sacramento Biologics Research & Development site and its internal discovery and lead optimization platform to Ginkgo Bioworks. Additionally, Ginkgo will also integrate the R&D platform assets from Joyn Bio, a joint venture between Ginkgo and Leaps by Bayer formed in 2017.
Bayer is the first major partner of Ginkgo’s expanded agricultural biologicals platform, entering into a new collaboration to advance Joyn Bio’s nitrogen fixation program and new programs in areas including crop protection and carbon sequestration. As part of its partnership, Ginkgo will provide research services to Bayer in the field of agricultural biologicals.
The Orrick team advising Bayer is led by Ramy Shweiky and Shana Solomon, with significant contributions from Sara Gates, Jamie Kamen, Sky Stallbaumer, Nicole Walsh, Emily Bills, Marsha Mogilevich, Soo Hwang, Kelly Mink, Whitney Rosser, Daniel Kadin, Eric Wall, Juliano Banuelos, Taylor Ball, Danielle Mangogna, Amy Ray, Bob Lawrence, Shannon Yavorsky, Matthew Coleman, Jeanine McGuinness, Maria Sergeyeva and Matthew Gemello.