Codex announces 8 new products to support the scientific community’s battle against COVID-19

San Diego, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Codex DNA, Inc., creators of the world’s first fully automated system for high-throughput writing of DNA, the BioXp™ 3200 system, today announced a newly developed and released suite of products and services designed to accelerate the development of solutions to combat COVID-19.

In addition to having already made available co-funding grants for researchers, as well as releasing a comprehensive SARS-CoV-2 application note that details how to leverage the BioXp™ 3200 system to advance the fight against COVID-19, Codex today announced the availability of 8 new products: 

• Codex SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic RNA controls – safe and robust positive controls that replace the need for live virus in RT-PCR and NGS testing protocols
• Codex SARS-CoV-2 antigen panels – that allow for rapid design and iteration of antigens (e.g., Spike protein) for the development of vaccines using the BioXp™ system
• Codex SARS-CoV-2 antibody libraries – that allow for rapid design and generation of antibody libraries for the development of therapeutics using the BioXp™ system
• Codex SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein DNA vaccine construct – wild-type Spike protein cloned in the DNA vaccine vector of your choice
• Codex SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine scaffold – mRNA vaccine scaffold design and synthesis on the BioXp™ system
• Codex SARS-CoV-2 live attenuated vaccine scaffold – leverage the Codex full-length, synthetic SARS-CoV-2 genome for the development of live attenuated vaccines 
• Codex SARS-CoV-2 synthetic DNA parts – spanning the whole genome useful for developing DNA, RNA and viral vector vaccines and pan-genome diagnostics
• Codex SARS-CoV-2 full-length, synthetic genome – leverage the Wuhan-Hu-1 strain of SARS-CoV-2 (GenBank number MN908947.3) cloned in a bacterial artificial chromosome for the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics

“At Codex, we are resolutely focused on empowering our customers and collaborators with all they need to build biology so that they can change the world. Never has this purpose been more important than right now,” said Todd R. Nelson, Ph.D., CEO of Codex.

“As soon as we learned about the spread of SARS-CoV-2 [which causes the disease known as COVID-19], we knew that our BioXp™ system would be a tremendous help to researchers, and so we released the funds [the co-funding grants] to help get more BioXp™ systems into the hands of more researchers. We also released an app note to our existing customers on how to rapidly synthesize SARS-CoV-2 genome parts, making them readily available for developing diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics,” said Nelson. “But we know not everyone has access to our DNA printers, and so are making available this host of solutions and services to help in every way possible.”

In addition to developing new products, Codex is also offering up laboratory space and staff to researchers who may not currently be able to access or enter their own labs.

“It’s all hands on deck,” said Nelson. “We are providing solutions independent of whether or not someone uses a BioXp™ system, or the Gibson Assembly® method, or even our library services. None of that matters at the moment; if you’re fighting COVID-19, Codex is fighting alongside you.”

To learn more about the Codex tools for combating COVID-19, visit codexdna.com/pages/sars-cov-2-tools, or contact its COVID-19 team at [email protected].

About Codex

Codex is building biology. Creators of the BioXp™ system, the world’s only fully automated gene synthesis platform, and the industry-standard Gibson Assembly^® methodology, Codex empowers researchers with the tools they need to rapidly and securely design, code, and synthesize DNA. Codex is accelerating advances in the fields of personalized medicine, antibody engineering, vaccine development, drug discovery, and DNA storage. For more information, visit codexdna.com.

Ruth Petersen
Codex
8584335907
[email protected]