NEW YORK – UK synthetic biology company Evonetix said on Wednesday that it has signed a joint development and commercial supply agreement with semiconductor manufacturer Analog Devices (ADI) to expand the production capacity of its gene synthesis technology.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Evonetix said the partners are planning to develop a gene foundry on a chip, which it envisions producing gene-length DNA in three days at the benchtop. The new platform will improve the quality, speed, and cost of developing synthetic biological products, such as vaccines, medicines, treatments, and therapies, Evonetix claimed.
Previously, the Cambridge-based company said it had shown feasibility for its proprietary technology, which relies on selectively heating or cooling small regions on a semiconductor chip to achieve thermally controlled enzymatic DNA synthesis.
As part of the latest agreement, ADI has committed to investing in the continued development of Evonetix's semiconductor-based gene synthesis devices. The companies have also entered into a commercial supply agreement to secure the highly scalable manufacturing capability of ADI for Evonetix and its future customers.