Synthetic biology pioneer Zymergen files for IPO

In California, synthetic biology firm Zymergen has filed for a $100 million IPO, according to a document with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Zymergen says it has 10 products in development, consisting of three in electronics, four with consumer care applications and three in agriculture.  The company’s biofacturing platform discovers biomolecules and engineers microbes that can produce those biomolecules at an industrial scale, the document says.  The platform combines biology, chemistry and technology and “is built on a stack that integrates techniques in molecular biology, chemistry, materials science, lab automation systems, software applications, unique databases and machine learning algorithms.” 

Zymergen estimates the platform will enable it to launch a product in roughly five years and at a cost of $50 million. In 2020, the company reported a loss from operations of $240 million. 

The company says it will list shares on the Nasdaq under the ticker ZY.  As part of a risk disclosure requirement included in an IPO prospectus, the company listed a history of operating losses and expectation that the company will not be profitable “for the foreseeable future” as well as limited operating history.