Primordial Genetics and Pelican are joining forces. Say hello to Primrose Bio.

Primrose Bio offers radically new products and tools that unlock unexplored possibilities for the discovery, development, and manufacturing of new, complex molecules.

Primrose Bio launches following merger of Primordial Genetics and Pelican Technology Holdings with $15 million in funding from Ligand Pharmaceuticals.

About Us

We enable the development of innovative therapeutics, vaccines, and manufacturing tools to advance global health.

Primrose Bio, Inc., is built by experienced life sciences executives and entrepreneurs with more than 150 years of combined experience developing innovative and marketed therapeutics, enzymes, and platform technologies. Our deep technical and business expertise in our fields advances an offering that improves and accelerates the way these new biologics are conceived, developed, and commercialized.

Management Team

CEO | Helge Zieler, PhD.

In 2011, Helge founded Primordial Genetics with the goal of building the premier company for genetic improvement of microbes and enzymes used in bio-production. Today as CEO of Primrose, he is pursuing the same goal with a focus on manufacturing of nucleic acid and proteins used in genetic medicines, vaccines and biotherapeutics. With 38 years under his belt in molecular biology, genetics and synthetic biology, Helge has been an early participant in multiple biotech companies including Agradis, Synthetic Genomics, Chromatin, and others.

President & COO | Diane Retallack, PhD.

Diane was a founding member of the team that established the Pfenex Expression Technology® platform, overseeing strain engineering, HTP screening and upstream development. With over 25 years experience in molecular biology, microbial genetics, protein expression, and executive management, Diane has contributed to multiple therapeutic programs from product conception through commercialization.

CBO | Michele Rubino

Michele oversees Primrose’s business and corporate development efforts to drive and deliver value to all the company’s stakeholders. With a career spanning from biotechnology to clean energy, the theme of Michele’s professional journey is to turn technologies and ideas into products and value. Michele most recently held leadership roles with Primordial Genetics, Synthetic Genomics (now Viridos), and a clean energy JV between global biotech leader Novozymes and private equity firm TPG.

SVP Process and Analytical Development | Jeff Allen, PhD.

Jeff was also a founding member of the Pfenex team and today oversees analytical development, protein product characterization, and process development to support internal and partnered programs. A biochemist by training, Jeff has more than 25 years of industry experience in protein biochemistry with multiple publications, presentations, global regulatory filings, and patents.

Platform Technologies

Our Pseudomonas fluorescens expression, the Pfenex Expression Technology®, has over 20 years of success in producing novel proteins, enzymes, vaccine antigens, antibody derivatives, and other complex proteins with six product approvals (FDA, EU, and WHO). Designed as a protein expression platform from the start, Pfenex has proven advantages with its comprehensive tool box of modified strains and genetic elements that shorten timelines and improve protein titer, quality, and cost of goods from human therapeutics through industrial products. Get the PDF.

Function Generator™ is a synthetic biotechnology platform used to improve biological functions and performance of enzymes, proteins and cells. It combines a genome-wide, gene-fusion based approach that explores a much larger genetic space than competing ways of generating biological diversity with ultra-high-throughput screening to select for improvement in the target biological function. We deliver remarkable improvements in functionality for biological traits in ways that are impossible to predict and rationally engineer, including productivity, tolerance, specific activity, selectivity and more.

Our Pseudomonas fluorescens expression, the Pfenex Expression Technology®, has over 20 years of success in producing novel proteins, enzymes, vaccine antigens, antibody derivatives, and other complex proteins with six product approvals (FDA, EU, and WHO). Designed as a protein expression platform from the start, Pfenex has proven advantages with its comprehensive tool box of modified strains and genetic elements that shorten timelines and improve protein titer, quality, and cost of goods from human therapeutics through industrial products. Get the PDF.

Function Generator™ is a synthetic biotechnology platform used to improve biological functions and performance of enzymes, proteins and cells. It combines a genome-wide, gene-fusion based approach that explores a much larger genetic space than competing ways of generating biological diversity with ultra-high-throughput screening to select for improvement in the target biological function. We deliver remarkable improvements in functionality for biological traits in ways that are impossible to predict and rationally engineer, including productivity, tolerance, specific activity, selectivity and more.

Products

The only CRM197 you can buy that’s used in marketed vaccines, from milligrams to kilograms in both research and GMP grades. We are the leader in providing the highest quality CRM197 available produced in the Pfenex Expression Technology® that’s used in three marketed vaccines, including Merck’s Vaxneuvance™, and Serum Institute’s Pneumosil® and MenFive®. Order here. Get the PDF.

Prima RNApols™ are superior RNA polymerases used to develop safe, viable mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics. Prima RNApols™ offer the benefits of higher yields and lower double stranded RNA (dsRNA) than other standard polymerases. Our proprietary RNA polymerases – paired with a comprehensive set of process conditions – improve KPIs of the in-vitro transcription reaction in ways that reduce manufacturing costs and deliver higher mRNA quality and drug efficacy. Get the PDF.

The only CRM197 you can buy that’s used in marketed vaccines, from milligrams to kilograms in both research and GMP grades. We are the leader in providing the highest quality CRM197 available produced in the Pfenex Expression Technology® that’s used in three marketed vaccines, including Merck’s Vaxneuvance™, and Serum Institute’s Pneumosil® and MenFive®. Order here. Get the PDF.

Prima RNApols™ are superior RNA polymerases used to develop safe, viable mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics. Prima RNApols™ offer the benefits of higher yields and lower double stranded RNA (dsRNA) than other standard polymerases. Our proprietary RNA polymerases – paired with a comprehensive set of process conditions – improve KPIs of the in-vitro transcription reaction in ways that reduce manufacturing costs and deliver higher mRNA quality and drug efficacy. Get the PDF.

Offerings

Protein Expression for Human, Animal, and Industrial Use

The Pfenex Expression Technology® has successfully expressed complex proteins for use in multiple fields, with five human product approvals to its name. With over 180 lead candidates produced through thousands of individual proteins used for a multitude of applications, in a matter of weeks under a feasibility assessment we can determine an optimal expression strategy for difficult-to-express proteins. Enzymes, peptides, antibody derivatives, and novel structures having high levels of cysteine knots and disulfide bonds are common place for us. A full suite of upstream and downstream capability up to 100 liters is in house, and world-class analytics support all aspects of development.

Nucleic Acid-based Therapeutics Discovery and Manufacturing

We leverage our know-how and capabilities in enzymatic synthesis of nucleic acids (both mRNA and oligonucleotides) to develop customized solutions for pharma and biotech companies, CDMOs, and other life sciences clients. This includes improving the performance of their mRNA production capabilities for customized applications and addressing manufacturability issues of complex nucleic acid molecules.

Careers

We are passionate about developing new technologies that can help us create the next generation of superior organisms, please feel free to contact us to inquire about our current opportunities.

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