Germany's Bayer announced that the company has closed the previously announced transaction with Boston-based biotechnology company Ginkgo Bioworks to initiate a multi-year strategic partnership to accelerate research and development of biologics for agriculture. The deal includes the divestiture of Bayer's West Sacramento Biologics Research and Development site and its internal discovery and lead optimization platform to move to Gingko's operation.

With the closing of this transaction, Bayer's Biologics unit, which is part of its Crop Science Division, will further engage in an open innovation ecosystem, seeking to attract more innovators and scientists from around the world.

In addition, under the agreement, Joyn Bio, the joint venture created by Bayer and Ginkgo Bioworks in 2017, will be integrated into Ginkgo Bioworks to enable the continued advancement of Joyn Bio's innovative nitrogen fixation platform. Bayer, as part of the agreement, will retain the right to commercialize the technology to complement synthetic fertilizer use for years to come.

With this, Bayer becomes the first major partner in Ginkgo Bioworks' expanded agricultural biologics platform, entering into a new collaboration focused on programs in the areas of crop protection, nitrogen fixation and carbon sequestration to identify next-generation biologics that provide proven benefits to growers.

″Biological solutions play a critical role in the agricultural innovation ecosystem, and we see tremendous opportunity for these products to add even more value for agriculture in the future,″ said Dr. Robert Reiter, Head of R&D at Bayer’s Crop Science Division. ″The open innovation approach will accelerate the product pipeline and will make sure that we bring high-quality biological solutions and innovative technologies to the market faster.″

Ginkgo Bioworks' goal is to develop and advance microbial solutions for agriculture across crops and geographies through platforms that respond to diverse market needs. In this line, it will work independently with different partners in the discovery of microbial-derived products for agriculture.

″Ginkgo is committed to harnessing the power of programmable biology to enable sustainable food production and food security worldwide,″ said Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks. ″We look forward to partnering with Bayer and other innovative companies, and to bringing more applications on to Ginkgo’s expanded agricultural biologicals platform so that growers worldwide can develop breakthrough products.″