New England Biolabs® releases EnClose™ Cell-free dbDNA™ Synthesis Kit in collaboration with Touchlight to accelerate DNA and RNA therapeutic development

IPSWICH, Mass., March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- New England Biolabs (NEB^®) today announced the release of the EnClose Cell-free dbDNA Synthesis Kit, developed in collaboration with Touchlight. This novel kit enables the benchtop enzymatic synthesis of Touchlight's proprietary doggybone™ DNA (dbDNA), a linear, covalently closed, double-stranded DNA, providing researchers with a rapid, cell-free alternative to traditional plasmid DNA for the development of various nucleic acid therapeutics.

"Traditional plasmid DNA manufacturing is a significant bottleneck in advanced therapies development, often requiring large-scale fermentation, cell banking, and long lead times that can slow the path to the clinic," said Dr. Ashley Luck, Associate Director of Applications and Development at NEB. "We're thrilled to offer a cell-free alternative that allows researchers to bypass these complex bacterial processes. This kit enables the rapid screening and production of high-purity DNA templates right at the benchtop, cutting months off the development timeline for mRNA vaccines and gene therapies."

NEB built upon Touchlight's dbDNA technology by developing the EnClose Cell-free dbDNA Synthesis Kit, which offers a robust, optimized, and simplified enzymatic workflow, enabling scientists to generate high yields of closed-ended DNA in a single day. Unlike plasmid DNA, dbDNA is free of bacterial sequences and antibiotic resistance genes, minimizing safety concerns and simplifying regulatory compliance. The technology is linearly scalable from research to production, making it an ideal template for viral vector manufacturing — such as adeno-associated virus (AAV) and lentiviral (LV) vectors, non-viral gene therapy and a variety of nucleic acid therapeutics, including mRNA therapeutics and gene editing. Furthermore, the enzymatic process excels at synthesizing difficult sequences, such as long poly(A) tails and viral inverted terminal repeats, which are often unstable in bacterial cultures.

"Collaborating with NEB allows us to significantly broaden the accessibility of our technology, directly into the hands of researchers for the first time," said Dr. Tommy Duncan, Chief Business Officer at Touchlight. "By combining our proprietary dbDNA technology with NEB's expertise in enzymology, we've optimized a workflow that allows scientists to screen constructs and prototype high-throughput designs rapidly, before moving on to larger-scale manufacturing."

This dbDNA synthesis kit aligns with NEB's overarching commitment to support and streamline the development of RNA- and DNA- based therapies. By providing a direct entry into the nucleic acid therapeutic space with a scalable, cell-free template solution, NEB continues to expand its comprehensive portfolio of reagents and kits designed to support customers from discovery through to commercialization.

More information on the EnClose Cell-free dbDNA Synthesis Kit can be found at www.neb.com/E9301

NEB^® and NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS^® are registered trademarks of New England Biolabs, Inc.

ENCLOSE™ is a trademark of New England Biolabs, Inc.

DOGGYBONE™ and dbDNA™ are trademarks of Touchlight Genetics.

About New England Biolabs:

For over 50 years, New England Biolabs (NEB) has pioneered the discovery and production of innovative products tailored for molecular biology research. Our commitment to scientific discovery is evident in all that we do, including our ever-expanding product portfolio, investment in our basic and applied research program, and support of customers' research in academia and industry, including cutting-edge technologies for use in molecular diagnostics and nucleic-acid vaccines development. Guided by our founding principles, NEB proactively invests in efforts to improve the well-being of our employees, surrounding communities, as well as the future of our planet. NEB remains a privately held company with global reach, supported by our headquarters in Ipswich, MA, USA, subsidiary offices in 10 countries, and over 60 distribution partners around the world. For more information about New England Biolabs, visit www.neb.com.

About Touchlight

Touchlight is an innovation-driven leading CDMO pioneering enzymatic GMP DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution. As pioneers, with an FDA Drug Master File accepted in 2022 followed in 2025 with the world's first cell-free DNA GMP license,
Touchlight's enzymatic DNA technology is on the cutting edge of AAV, mRNA, DNA vaccine, and gene editing technology with its state-of-the-art facility recognized by ISPE's Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for Innovation. 

With multiple client products already in the clinic, Touchlight's evidence-based, synthetic DNA manufacturing solutions offer a scalable, sustainable alternative to plasmid DNA (pDNA) for all stages of pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development. The company and technology are built on the conviction that DNA is fundamental to the future of medicine. Traditional methods, based on bacterial fermentation, are slow, costly, and unable to meet the growing demands of genetic medicine due to limited scalability and speed. Founded in 2007, Touchlight's team is inspired by breakthroughs in genetic medicine, recognizing the urgent need for innovative DNA production techniques to support the future of genetic therapies. For more information, visit www.touchlight.com

SOURCE New England Biolabs, Inc.