Ginkgo Bioworks Partners with Carnegie-Mellon University to Develop Innovative New Cancer Screening Approach
Rhea-AI Summary
Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) announced a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University on an ARPA-H award for the POSEIDON program (Platform Optimizing SynBio for Early Intervention and Detection in Oncology) dated December 22, 2025. Ginkgo will serve as Commercial Partner while CMU leads the project under principal investigator Rebecca Taylor.
The program aims to develop an orally administered pill with engineered tumor-targeting sensors plus a user-friendly at-home urine screening device. The multidisciplinary team includes researchers from University of Pittsburgh, UMass Amherst, KU Leuven, and corporate partners Velentium Medical, Clinical Research Strategies, and Platypus Bio.
Positive
- ARPA-H award secured for POSEIDON program
- Ginkgo named Commercial Partner
- Orally administered pill with tumor-targeting sensors planned
- At-home urine screening device under development
- Multidisciplinary team with CMU, Pittsburgh, UMass Amherst, KU Leuven
Negative
- None.
News Market Reaction
On the day this news was published, DNA gained 8.52%, reflecting a notable positive market reaction. Argus tracked a peak move of +8.3% during that session. Our momentum scanner triggered 24 alerts that day, indicating elevated trading interest and price volatility. This price movement added approximately $43M to the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $553M at that time.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
Ahead of this announcement DNA was down 1.7% while notable biotech peers like ANAB, MGTX, KROS, and SEPN showed gains (e.g., SEPN up 3.64%) and XNCR was modestly lower, pointing to stock-specific weakness rather than a broad sector move.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 17 | Manufacturing collaboration | Positive | -0.2% | Collaboration with Agricen to optimize fermentation for soil amendment microbes. |
| Dec 09 | ARPA-H partnership | Positive | +1.7% | Deep Origin-led ARPA-H CATALYST project using Datapoints for drug safety data. |
| Dec 05 | Government contract win | Positive | +0.4% | Up to $47M DOE contract for high-throughput phenotyping platform with PNNL. |
| Dec 03 | ARPA-H collaboration | Positive | +4.9% | Participation in ARPA-H EMBODY program for in vivo cell and gene therapy. |
| Nov 06 | Q3 earnings | Negative | -2.5% | Q3 2025 revenue decline, GAAP net loss and reaffirmed full-year guidance. |
Partnerships and government-backed program wins have generally aligned with positive price reactions, while at least one collaboration headline saw a mild divergence.
Over the past few months, Ginkgo Bioworks has reported a mix of government contracts, collaborations, and earnings. Recent news included an Agricen fermentation collaboration on Dec 17, ARPA-H backed PREDICTS work with Deep Origin on Dec 9, and a four‑year, up to $47M phenotyping platform contract on Dec 5. An ARPA‑H EMBODY program collaboration was noted on Dec 3. Earlier, Q3 2025 results on Nov 6 showed revenue decline and sizable losses. Today’s ARPA‑H cancer-screening partnership fits the pattern of platform‑leveraging deals in diagnostics and government-funded programs.
Regulatory & Risk Context
The company has an active S-3 shelf registration filed on 2025-08-07, expiring on 2028-08-07, with at least one usage recorded via a 424B5 filing on 2025-09-04 for Class A common stock. This structure provides flexibility to raise capital alongside partnership-driven growth initiatives.
Market Pulse Summary
The stock moved +8.5% in the session following this news. A strong positive reaction aligns with Ginkgo’s history of favorable responses to partnership and ARPA‑H related announcements, where most prior deals saw gains within 24 hours. However, the stock traded 53.92% below its 52‑week high and below its 200-day MA before this news, so mean reversion, insider selling trends, and the presence of an active S‑3 shelf and prior 424B5 usage could influence how durable any upside proves.
Key Terms
synthetic biology medical
nucleic acid nanotechnology medical
tumor-targeting sensors medical
ARPA-H regulatory
diagnostics medical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
Combining recent advancements in synthetic biology with cutting-edge detection technology, the team expects to develop both a highly innovative orally administered pill containing specially engineered, tumor-targeting sensors and a user-friendly cancer screening device designed for at-home testing. As part of this team, Ginkgo plans to apply its cell and enzyme engineering expertise to support development of these new diagnostic tools.
Using a combination of synthetic biology and nucleic acid nanotechnology, the pill's specially engineered, tumor-targeting sensors aim to detect tumor-specific conditions, such as low oxygen, acidity, and lactate—hallmarks of cancer. The sensors will then release reporters to indicate the presence of a tumor and its specific tissue of origin. Synthetic reporters will then be excreted into urine to collect the results.
"Our dual-function approach is designed to provide an unprecedented level of precision, effectively illuminating hidden tumors from within the body, which then signals the presence of disease through a simple urine test," explained Taylor. "This is a scientific leap forward that we believe will profoundly change how we approach early cancer diagnostics."
"We are truly excited to get to support this effort," said Jesse Dill, Government BD Lead at Ginkgo Bioworks. "This type of interdisciplinary teaming, and ambitious vision, are essential for bringing transformative new diagnostics to the market. We hope that patients and doctors will be empowered to make well-informed decisions, to the benefit of all."
In addition to Carnegie Mellon researchers, the multidisciplinary project team includes academic experts from the University of
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About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo Bioworks builds the tools that make biology easier to engineer for everyone. Ginkgo R&D Solutions delivers customizable R&D packages—such as protein engineering, nucleic acid design, and cell-free systems—giving partners a comprehensive way to accelerate innovation across therapeutics, diagnostics, & manufacturing. Ginkgo Automation sells modular, integrated laboratory automation so scientists can spend their days planning and analyzing experiments rather than pipetting in the lab. Ginkgo Datapoints uses Ginkgo's in-house automation to generate the large lab data sets to power your AI models. Ginkgo Biosecurity is building and deploying the next-generation infrastructure and technologies that global leaders need to predict, detect, and respond to a wide variety of biological threats. For more information, visit ginkgobioworks.com and ginkgobiosecurity.com, read our blog, or follow us on social media channels such as X (@Ginkgo and @Ginkgo_Biosec), Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks), Threads (@GinkgoBioworks), or LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the capabilities and potential success of the partnership and Ginkgo's cell programming platform. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "can," "project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) our ability to realize near-term and long-term cost savings associated with our site consolidation plans, including the ability to terminate leases or find sub-lease tenants for unused facilities, (ii) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo operates and plans to operate, variations in performance across competitors, and changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business, (iii) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and to identify and realize additional business opportunities, including with respect to our solutions and tools offerings, (iv) the risk of downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology, (v) the uncertainty regarding the demand for passive monitoring programs and biosecurity services, (vi) changes to the biosecurity industry, including due to advancements in technology, emerging competition and evolution in industry demands, standards and regulations, (vii) the outcome of any pending or potential legal proceedings against Ginkgo, (viii) our ability to realize the expected benefits from and the success of our Foundry platform programs and Codebase assets, (ix) our ability to successfully develop engineered cells, bioprocesses, data packages or other deliverables, (x) the product development, production or manufacturing success of our customers, (xi) our exposure to the volatility and liquidity risks inherent in holding equity interests in other operating companies and other non-cash consideration we may receive for our services, (xii) the potential negative impact on our business of our restructuring or the failure to realize the anticipated savings associated therewith and (xiii) the uncertainty regarding government budgetary priorities and funding allocated to government agencies. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of Ginkgo's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the
GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
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SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks
FAQ
What did Ginkgo Bioworks (DNA) announce on December 22, 2025?
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Will the POSEIDON program's pill provide tissue-origin information for tumors in testing by Ginkgo Bioworks (DNA)?
