Venter Institute, Synthetic Genomics Form Vaccine Company, Partner With Novartis

San Diego’s Synthetic Genomics, co-founded by human genome pioneer J. Craig Venter, and the nonprofit J. Craig Venter Institute, are forming a new company called Synthetic Genomics Vaccines.

The startup plans to develop next-generation vaccines, using the latest advances in synthetic biology and genomic sequencing from the Maryland-based Venter institute, and intellectual property and “business acumen” from Synthetic Genomics, according to a statement today. The new vaccine company also has formed a three-year alliance with Novartis, the Swiss pharma giant, to collaborate in the development of influenza seed strains needed for vaccine manufacturing.

The collaboration with Novartis is supported by an award from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority that is intended to lay the groundwork for a more effective public health response to seasonal and pandemic flu outbreaks. The companies did not specify the amount of the award.

Under their collaboration, Novartis and Synthetic Genomics Vaccines plan to establish a “bank” of synthetically created seed viruses, which could be used to produce vaccines as soon as the World Health Organization identifies seasonal flu strains of concern. Currently, the WHO distributes live reference viruses after they have been identified to major vaccine manufacturers like Novartis. By creating the bank, Synthetic Genomics says the partnership could reduce vaccine production time by as much as two months, which would be critical during a pandemic.

The Venter Institute has been working with Novartis for more than a decade to apply its expertise in genomics to the development of new vaccines. Their last collaboration resulted in a technique now known as “reverse vaccinology,” a genomics-based way of finding new targets for vaccines that’s faster than traditional methods. Using advances in synthetic genomics, the companies say it is conceivable that more universal vaccines could be developed to target a broader range of infectious agents.

Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here. Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.