SGI-DNA, A Synthetic Genomics, Inc. Company, Announces Exclusive Global Distribution Agreement for Reagents with VWR

LA JOLLA, Calif., July 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SGI-DNA, a Synthetic Genomics, Inc. company (SGI), announced that it has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement for its reagents portfolio with VWR (NASDAQ: VWR), the leading global independent provider of product and service solutions to laboratory and production facilities. This agreement with VWR makes SGI-DNA reagents more readily available by leveraging VWR's network across North America and Europe.

"We are excited to add SGI-DNA to our life science portfolio," said Stephan Labonté, SVP Marketing for VWR.  "SGI-DNA's innovative technologies allow VWR to better support our customers in the rapidly developing field of synthetic biology."

A key technology distributed through this agreement is Gibson Assembly® DNA cloning methodology. SGI-DNA's complete suite of 3 products, the HiFi 1-Step, Ultra, and Site-Directed Mutagenesis Gibson Assembly Kits, will be made available to VWR customers as part of this agreement. Previously, reagents manufactured by SGI-DNA were only available by directly ordering from the company.

Gibson Assembly methodologies were developed in 2009 by Dan Gibson and his colleagues at the J. Craig Venter Institute along with SGI. This revolutionary approach to creating plasmid DNA clones allows the assembly of multiple DNA fragments in a single reaction without the need for compatible restriction sites. Gibson Assembly is significantly faster and much more efficient than traditional restriction enzyme digest-based cloning and proven for the cloning of both small and large double stranded DNA fragments.  

The Gibson Assembly method is supported by over 1,200 peer reviewed publications and is proven for the generation of DNA constructs and libraries as well as for pathway engineering and other synthetic biology applications.

Key advantages of Gibson Assembly:

• Simple –A one tube reaction joins DNA ends without need for restriction enzyme site compatibility
• Enables complex constructs –Assemble up to 15 double stranded DNA fragments at a time
• Fast –Generates transformation ready constructs in about an hour
• Flexible –Creates seamless, error-free constructions without the presence of extraneous or intervening sequences such as restriction sites

Nathan Wood, President, SGI-DNA, said, "This agreement represents a major milestone for SGI-DNA as it greatly improves our potential to commercialize our technologies through established VWR channels. This VWR/SGI-DNA agreement will also benefit life science researchers as they'll have better access to Gibson Assembly® reagents for more streamlined molecular biology workflows." 

For more information on SGI-DNA Gibson Assembly reagents, please visit www.sgidna.com/gibson-assembly  

SGI-DNA's Gibson Assembly Products are available through VWR in the North America and Europe.  To place an order with VWR in one of these countries, please visit www.vwr.com, select "Shop VWR Globally" located at the top right hand corner of the page and choose your specific country. 

All products and services are intended for research use only. Not intended for diagnostic or therapeutic uses.

The Gibson Assembly® method is also available under commercial license. For more information, contact us at [email protected]. 

About SGI-DNA

SGI-DNA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Synthetic Genomics, Inc (SGI), is responsible for all commercial aspects of SGI's synthetic DNA business and focuses on strategic business relationships with both academic and commercial researchers. Building on the scientific advancements and breakthroughs from leading scientists such as J. Craig Venter, Ham Smith, Clyde Hutchison, Dan Gibson and their teams, SGI-DNA utilizes unique and proprietary DNA technologies to produce complex synthetic genes and reagents. SGI-DNA also offers the BioXp™ 3200 System, the world's first DNA printer, in addition to a comprehensive suite of genomic services, including whole genome sequencing, library design, bioinformatics services, and reagent kits to enable synthetic biology.

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SOURCE SGI-DNA