Using Berkeley Lights' high-throughput, functional screening service, Aanika BioSciences will now rapidly commercialize the propriety peptide to help improve and protect global food system

EMERYVILLE, Calif., July 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkeley Lights, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLI), a leader in digital cell biology, and Aanika Biosciences, a growing biotech start-up using edible microbial tags to improve food safety, today announced that the companies have successfully reached their strategic partnership milestone by identifying a commercially viable antimicrobial peptide (AMP) to enable faster identification of outbreak sources, reduce incidents of fresh produce contamination and minimize the impact of food borne illness related recalls. The strategic partnership between the two companies was first announced in January 2022, and completed ahead of schedule.

In this partnership, Aanika commissioned Berkeley Lights' high-throughput, functional screening services to rapidly identify and optimize functional AMPs capable of killing harmful bacteria to reduce contamination. In addition, the Beacon® Optofluidic Platform was leveraged to generate high resolution datasets that allowed for rapid down selection of peptides of interest.

"The partnership with Berkeley Lights far exceeded our expectations, from a scientific discovery and speed standpoint, as well as the highly collaborative nature in which our two teams operated together," said Aanika co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Vishaal Bhuyan. "The identification of the new AMP now enables us to move faster than we thought was possible to unlock the opportunities to have greater economic, environmental and human health impact as we to help improve and protect our global food system."

"We were beyond pleased to work alongside Aanika BioSciences and leverage Berkeley Lights' technology and expertise to accelerate the time to market for these AMPs," said Siddhartha Kadia, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Berkeley Lights. "Our team's ability to rapidly implement and iterate on new concepts with Aanika is further validation of the impact our high-throughput, functional screening services can have on accelerating the commercial objectives of our customers by decreasing their time to market."

As previously announced, Berkeley Lights will participate in the downstream economics created by its enabling technology through a royalty arrangement as part of this strategic partnership. Further terms of the agreement are not disclosed.

About Berkeley Lights

Berkeley Lights is a leading digital cell biology company focused on enabling and accelerating the rapid development and commercialization of biotherapeutics and other cell-based products for our customers. The Berkeley Lights Platform captures deep phenotypic, functional, and genotypic information for thousands of single cells in parallel and can also deliver the live biology customers desire in the form of the best cells. Our platform is a fully integrated, end-to-end solution, comprising proprietary consumables, including our OptoSelect® chips and reagent kits, advanced automation systems, and application software. We developed the Berkeley Lights Platform to provide the most advanced environment for rapid functional characterization of single cells at scale, the goal of which is to establish an industry standard for our customers throughout their cell-based product value chain.

About Aanika BioSciences

Aanika Biosciences was co-founded in 2018 by Vishaal Bhuyan after he personally experienced the consequences of ordering fresh seeds and receiving stale, contaminated products instead. He made it his mission to create a safer food supply by finding a way to track, trace and authenticate products. Aanika's customized microbial-based tags help companies gain valuable insights about their supply chains, help their customers make better consumption choices, and create a more sustainable world.

Forward-Looking Statements

To the extent that statements contained in this press release are not descriptions of historical facts regarding Berkeley Lights or its products, they are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties that relate to future events, and actual results and product performance could differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Berkeley Lights undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's growth and continual evolution see the statements in the "Risk Factors" sections, and elsewhere, in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  

SOURCE Berkeley Lights, Inc.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/berkeley-lights-and-aanika-biosciences-reach-strategic-partnership-milestone-by-identifying-a-commercially-viable-antimicrobial-peptide-301594282.html

‍