The Foundry Joins Asimov to Create a New R&D Center for Genetic Design

• The Foundry, formerly of MIT and the Broad Institute, has joined Asimov; its team, leadership, and infrastructure have moved to Asimov’s Boston headquarters.
• The group has nucleated Asimov Labs, a new R&D center for advanced genetic design.

BOSTON, Aug. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Asimov, the synthetic biology company building tools to design living systems, announced today that The Foundry, previously of MIT and the Broad Institute, has joined its ranks. The Foundry was established by Professor Christopher Voigt (MIT) in 2012 as part of DARPA’s Living Foundries program to expand the limits of genetic design. During its tenure, the Foundry developed novel engineering techniques and used them to produce thousands of molecules, materials, genetic circuits, and sensors. In its new home at Asimov, the team will continue to pioneer genetic design as Asimov Labs, a center dedicated to developing technologies to open new frontiers for biological engineering.

Asimov develops cellular, genetic, and computational tools to enable next-generation therapeutics. Asimov Labs’ mission is to boost the company’s existing platforms by developing new tools for computer-aided genetic design, high-precision predictive biological models, new genetic control systems, and novel cell optimization techniques.

“By shifting the team’s focus from microbes to mammalian systems, we see tremendous opportunity to accelerate the state of the art,” said Ben Gordon, PhD, who built the Foundry and continues to lead the team as Asimov’s Senior Director of Research. Dr. Gordon brings decades of experience in biodesign, automation, computational modeling, bioproduction, and dynamic scientific leadership to the company. In addition, the Foundry’s core research team and infrastructure have moved to Asimov’s headquarters in Boston.

“Ever since The Foundry launched at MIT, I have been in awe of what they can do,” said Alec Nielsen, CEO and co-founder of Asimov. “They are one of the most creative and productive teams on the planet, forging new ground in bioengineering, genome mining, computational biology, and automation. But unlike conventional biofoundries, what makes the team unique is their relentless focus on getting better at design, bringing within reach things that flat-out can’t be done by brute-force or high-throughput screening. I couldn’t be more excited for them to push the envelope on new tools and technologies at Asimov.”

ABOUT ASIMOV
Headquartered in Boston, Asimov’s mission is to advance humanity’s ability to design living systems, enabling biotechnologies with outsized societal benefit. The company is developing a synthetic biology platform – from cells to software – to design and manufacture next-generation therapeutics, including biologics, cell/gene therapies, and RNA. Founded by bioengineers from MIT and Boston University, the company has raised over $200 million from top institutional investors including Andreessen Horowitz, CPP Investments, Horizons Ventures, and Fidelity Management & Research Company. For more information, visit www.asimov.com.

CONTACT
Ben Gordon, Senior Director of Research
media@asimov.com

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SOURCE Asimov