Twist Bioscience (TWST) Barclays 28th Annual Global Healthcare Conference summary

Business strategy and AI integration

• Resegmentation into SynBio and protein solutions aligns with AI-driven drug discovery trends, enabling faster and scalable workflows for customers using computational antibody design.

• AI allows customers to generate thousands of antibody sequences, which are rapidly synthesized, characterized, and tested, reducing discovery cycles from six weeks to two.

• The company aims to be a one-stop shop, offering a full menu of DNA, protein, and data services to meet diverse customer needs, from traditional labs to AI-native drug discovery firms.

• The Invenra collaboration enhances high-throughput bispecific antibody production, overcoming previous industry bottlenecks and supporting both traditional and AI-driven approaches.

Operational capacity and commercial approach

• DNA synthesis and protein solutions grew 27% year-over-year in Q1, with therapeutic drug discovery revenue exceeding $111 million and growing over 25%.

• The company maintains significant excess capacity, shipping 271,000 genes last quarter with a total annual capacity of 3 million genes, and is scaling up data characterization capacity as demand grows.

• Project selection is increasingly focused on profitability and commercial viability, leveraging a reputation for quality and speed to command fair value.

• The goal is to never turn away business if the price is right, while staying ahead of demand with proactive capacity investments.

NGS and product innovation

• NGS business is experiencing strong growth, with 18% growth in Q1 (excluding one customer) and a target of 20% by Q4, driven by liquid biopsy, MRD, and new markets like agriculture.

• The launch of TrueAmp library prep addresses market shifts toward whole genome sequencing, offering PCR-free-like performance with PCR convenience and enabling entry into new segments such as academia.

• The company remains bullish on panels and sees lower sequencing costs as expanding, not shrinking, panel applications, especially in AgBio and cancer.

• MRD Express was developed in response to customer demand for faster, high-sensitivity minimal residual disease testing, reducing turnaround from five days to one.