“Gensinta”, a startup operating in the field of synthetic biology, starts its establishment in Vilnius City Innovation Industrial Park

Northtown Vilnius, the operator of Vilnius City Innovation Industrial Park, has signed an agreement with “Gensinta”, a company developing a new generation DNA synthesis technology based on molecular biology and photonics methods.

“Gensinta” plans to fully establish at VCIIP by August of 2023, the company’s investment in VCIIP is expected to reach more than 10 million Eur.

According to the CEO of Gensinta Benas Macijauskas, the idea to establish a start-up operating in the field of synthetic biology came by observing the global challenges and trends of biotechnology. “With growing fears of climate change, aging populations and declining resources, the EU’s global leadership in sustainable use of resources, consumption, production and carbon reduction, it is projected that the role of synthetic biology, as a tool that can directly or indirectly benefit scientists and help solve the world’s sensitive problems, will become one of the most important,” says Benas Macijauskas and emphasizes that Lithuania’s positions, which have focused on the potential of two world-class industries – biotechnology and photonics – are exceptional.

“Synthesis has an important so far unresolved flaw – errors can occur in the DNA strand during elongation, in most cases rendering the entire sequence unsuitable for its intended use, and current error correction and purification methods are not competitive. The appropriate solution to this problem is to identify error-free sequences and select them for further processes. The method describing this process is patented in the USA and Gensinta owns the rights to this patent. Combining the competencies of biotechnology and photonics specialists, we will strive to create and develop an innovative DNA synthesis process based on an optomechanical quality control system, which enables quick and automatic selection of error-free DNA sequences with the help of pulsed laser. This is a solution that will allow us to offer synthetic biology services and products significantly cheaper, work more efficiently and perform custom production of primers, oligonucleotide sequences, synthetic genes, their fragments and other DNA constructs,” says B. Macijauskas.

According to dr. Gediminas Pauliukevičius, CEO of Northtown Vilnius, operator of Vilnius City Innovation Industrial Park, the establishment of “Gensinta” in the Park strengthens the part of life sciences companies operating in the fields of synthetic biology and gene editing at VCIIP. “It is these areas that promise the emergence and rapid development of completely new products and new market segments, which means even faster growth of the Lithuanian life sciences industry, which has already reached impressive volumes,” says G. Pauliukevičius.

According to him, another important aspect that strengthens the vision of Vilnius City Innovation Industrial Park as a cluster of life sciences is the focus on strengthening networking, interdisciplinarity of companies emerging here and cooperation in developing common new products. “We have been following these trends very clearly – companies operating in the field of life sciences and photonics or IT highly value the opportunity to concentrate in one territory, to establish themselves next to companies with which a strategic partnership is already developing or may be planned,” notes Gediminas Pauliukevičius.

There are already 13 companies located or starting to establish in Vilnius City Innovation Industrial Park, developing activities in the fields of life sciences, new production processes, materials and technologies, energy and sustainable environment. “Gensinta” is the fifth biotechnology company to develop its activities at VCIIP and will be in the neighbourhood of such life science companies as Biotecha, Experimentica, Imunodiagnostika and Sanobiotec. Moreover, Vilnius University Life Sciences Center intends to open its branch in Vilnius City Innovation Industrial Park by 2022.