SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ: TWST), a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, today released its inaugural environmental social and governance (ESG) report highlighting Twist’s approach to sustainability, social responsibility and commitment to ethics. The full report is available to view at https://www.twistbioscience.com/company/esg.
“We are proud to share the results of our ESG report, which reflects the ongoing work since our founding that demonstrates our commitment to ethical practices, recruiting and developing a diverse global workforce, and fostering a corporate culture where employees feel valued, respected and have a sense of belonging,” said Angela Bitting, SVP, corporate affairs and chief ESG officer for Twist Bioscience.
“Our commitment to writing the future of sustainability begins with the reduced chemical footprint of our silicon-based synthetic DNA platform and enables our customers to more sustainably develop therapeutics, diagnostic tests, agriculture yields, and so much more,” continued Bitting.
Commitment to a Diverse Workforce
Twist employs a diverse workforce and as of December 2020, 63% of Twist’s workforce1 was made up of people of color, with women of color making up 27% of the organization. Women make up 39% of the global workforce at Twist and are well represented in leadership positions, accounting for 42% of the executive team and 30% of the Board of Directors. Twist is committed to continuing to increase diversity in its growing workforce over the long term, with the short-term goal of increasing the percentage of women and racial diversity by 3% by the end of 2022, as compared to the end of 2021. To support diversity in recruiting and inform strong biotech curricula, the company is partnered with California Community Colleges and educational initiatives aimed at training the next generation of biomanufacturers.
In addition to providing flexible work arrangements to employees, Twist has several programs in place to encourage career growth and development, including internal leadership programs, specialized trainings, an online learning platform and tuition reimbursement of up to $5,250 per year. Twist also encourages employees to participate in philanthropic initiatives and provides 8 hours of paid time off per year for volunteer efforts.
Sustainable Platform and Practices
Twist’s silicon-based synthetic DNA platform offers a more sustainable alternative to legacy methods by miniaturizing the chemical reaction. Twist’s silicon chip has the same footprint as the 96-well plate used in traditional DNA synthesis approaches but contains millions of nanometer-scale devices, allowing Twist to synthesize over one million oligos at once, compared to 96 oligos generated by other approaches. Twist’s approach uses 99.8% less reagent per gene and does not produce excess oligo, completely removing oligo waste from the gene synthesis process.
As part of Twist’s commitment to sustainability beyond its platform, the company has implemented internal recycling programs, including a plastic glove recycling initiative that has diverted over 11 thousand pounds of plastic waste from landfills.
Ethical Practices Across the Organization
Twist has a comprehensive privacy policy in place and has obtained a certificate for the highest level of information security recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The company also works with governments as well as other DNA synthesis providers to develop, promote and evolve a consistent set of biosecurity best practices.
Twist performs rigorous biosecurity and export control screening to ensure that sequences of DNA that could pose significant risk if misused are not synthesized and shipped to unlicensed organizations. The same high ethical standards are applied across the organization and include meticulous record keeping, reporting and allocation of personnel resources to ensure that employees follow set policies and procedures.
About Twist Bioscience Corporation
Twist Bioscience is a leading and rapidly growing synthetic biology and genomics company that has developed a disruptive DNA synthesis platform to industrialize the engineering of biology. The core of the platform is a proprietary technology that pioneers a new method of manufacturing synthetic DNA by “writing” DNA on a silicon chip. Twist is leveraging its unique technology to manufacture a broad range of synthetic DNA-based products, including synthetic genes, tools for next-generation sequencing (NGS) preparation, and antibody libraries for drug discovery and development. Twist is also pursuing longer-term opportunities in digital data storage in DNA and biologics drug discovery. Twist makes products for use across many industries including healthcare, industrial chemicals, agriculture and academic research.
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Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained herein are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For a description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to Twist Bioscience’s business in general, see Twist Bioscience’s risk factors set forth in Twist Bioscience’s Annual Report Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 23, 2021 and subsequent filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Twist Bioscience specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
1 Employee base
