{ "docId": "019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785", "docSlug": "5fadb686cc03", "documentTitle": "Twist Bioscience (TWST)", "authorId": "58_Scorpion_Capital", "authorName": "Scorpion Capital", "documentKindSlug": "activist-deck", "documentKindLabel": "Activist deck", "sourceTypeSlug": "short_seller", "sourceTypeLabel": "Short seller", "presentationDate": "2022-11-15 00:00:00", "orientation": "landscape", "aspectRatio": 1.2941177, "pageNumber": 103, "pageCount": 236, "prevPage": 102, "nextPage": 104, "slideType": "expose_contradiction", "function": "expose_contradiction", "density": "overcrowded", "nDataPoints": 0, "notes": "Uses Q&A format to frame expert testimony as a critique of the company's core technology.", "elementsJson": [ "paragraph", "quote_block", "footnote" ], "metadataConfidence": 1, "imagePath": null, "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785/103", "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785", "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785.json", "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785#slide-103", "components": [ { "bbox": null, "kind": "callout", "text": "Twist’s “chip” and purported secret sauces is actually “their Achilles’ Heel”; executive has “thought so for many years”; suggests ditching the chip and switching to legacy synthesis technology instead", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Visual emphasis", "toolSlug": "visual-emphasis", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-0932-77cf-bfec-50afa2e51598", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.05, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.68 }, "kind": "list", "text": "Even after “over-engineer[ing] and “over-produc[ing]” Twist still has high errors and poor delivery rates on orders; “no way” to ever be profitable at 5-10 cents a base pair much less 1.5 cents", "attrs": null, "subkind": "bullet", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "39ffa3e4-b23e-4f4f-86fb-1ed9ace8531c", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.05, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.36 }, "kind": "list", "text": "Twist’s “chip” and purported secret sauces is actually “their Achilles’ Heel”; executive has “thought so for many years”; suggests ditching the chip and switching to legacy synthesis technology instead", "attrs": null, "subkind": "bullet", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "a3c14bc9-c75a-4629-8474-0e8652ccfb71", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.1, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.23 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "They stated the situation is so dire that Twist is better off ditching the chip and using off-the-shelf equipment just like the competition, describing a dilemma with no way out as they have high errors even after over-engineering expensive workarounds.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "e21426d0-f7a8-4deb-b4b0-af3c1cb82e6e", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.25, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.42 }, "kind": "quote", "text": "Q: “They’ve locked themselves into this production process around this chip. It’s actually extraordinary that the thing they flaunt as their secret sauce is actually ruining them.” A: “It’s their Achilles’ Heel at the same time.” Q: “Yeah, that’s a better way of putting it. Why don’t they ditch it and change it and do like what IDT does with this flow-based system?” A: “If I were there, I’d go in, and the first thing I’d do is reduce the redundancy. I’d see what my actual yields are based on those qualities, and then I would supplement my array system with individual gene synthesizers to do final product or finished product...The second thing I would do is reduce the number of clones they pick by focusing on the quality of the oligos. But that’s me.” Q: “They’re screwed.” A: “I have thought so for many years.” –Ex-senior executive of Gen9", "attrs": null, "subkind": "testimonial", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "13080ecd-2bb8-4ff1-8cda-7318c58cde66", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.2, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.74 }, "kind": "quote", "text": "“Instead of using the minimum number of spots to make a gene, they over-engineer or over-produce in order to guarantee that they’re going to get a gene and even with that, they still only have a 90% delivery rate or something like that...Then because of their oligos, they’re wonderful, but at the same time, even with Emily’s claim of a miniaturized error rate—so every certain number of bases, you get a wrong base. It’s a problem with polymerases and synthesis, in general. Once you find the gene you want, you put it into a clonal system and then you have to keep cloning and picking clones and then sequencing those to verify that you’ve got the final gene that you want. When you’re doing it that many times, there’s no way that you can sell a gene at 10 cents a base pair or 5 cents a base pair or to Ginkgo at 1.5 cents a base pair and hope to be profitable.” –Ex-senior executive of Gen9", "attrs": null, "subkind": "testimonial", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "fda355e2-6b94-4a9e-9905-3a3f5461caaa", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": null, "kind": "quote", "text": "“It’s their Achilles’ Heel at the same time.” — Ex-senior executive of Gen9; “I have thought so for many years.” — Ex-senior executive of Gen9; “Instead of using the minimum number of spots to make a gene, they over-engineer or over-produce in order to guarantee that they’re going to get a gene and even with that, they still only have a 90% delivery rate or something like that... there’s no way that you can sell a gene at 10 cents a base pair or 5 cents a base pair or to Ginkgo at 1.5 cents and hope to be profitable.” — Ex-senior executive of Gen9", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Authority citation", "toolSlug": "authority-citation", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-0932-77cf-bfec-56f3962cdbee", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.02, "w": 0.3, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.96 }, "kind": "source-note", "text": "Source: Scorpion Capital consultation calls with experts", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "1cf76227-34c7-4a19-9697-fddecbf7d666", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.15, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.08 }, "kind": "title", "text": "We find it stunning that Twist’s chip, their purported secret sauce, is actually “their Achilles Heel” – in the words of DNA manufacturing experts that relied upon the same Agilent technology.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "headline", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "4f754129-dc07-41c8-ab83-8ba7e89b6bc1", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null } ], "metrics": [], "tools": [], "frameworks": [ { "name": "antagonist-introduction", "slug": null, "matchId": "f837e41d-2b1c-44f5-8d10-85469e701f09", "evidence": "Frames the company's core technology as the 'Achilles Heel' and villain of the narrative.", "confidence": 0.8 } ], "arcBeats": [], "loops": [], "imagePathAlt": null, "thumbSrc": null, "thumbSrcAlt": null, "locked": true }