{ "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": 98, "pageCount": 236, "prevPage": 97, "nextPage": 99, "slideType": "villain_critique", "function": "name_villain", "density": "overcrowded", "nDataPoints": 0, "notes": "The slide uses a Q&A format to present expert testimony as a critique of the target company's core technology.", "elementsJson": [ "paragraph", "quote_block", "footnote" ], "metadataConfidence": 0.95, "imagePath": null, "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785/98", "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785", "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785.json", "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-4b91788fc785#slide-98", "components": [ { "bbox": null, "kind": "callout", "text": "Twist’s chip is an albatross around their neck – “a boat anchor”; much more expensive and error-prone than the legacy DNA synthesis methods that competitors use; chip is impossible to quality control", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Visual emphasis", "toolSlug": "visual-emphasis", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-0932-77cf-bfeb-7fb74775e117", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.08, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.35 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Twist’s chip is an albatross around their neck – “a boat anchor”; much more expensive and error-prone than the legacy DNA synthesis methods that competitors use; chip is impossible to quality control", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "9432b224-1168-4c76-9a4c-ae5bdbf3cd79", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.03, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.71 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Q: “What is IDT’s manufacturing process? What is flow-based versus this chip that that Twist has?”", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "9669e005-1d1f-4eb8-b0da-01b36874ecf5", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.25, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.45 }, "kind": "quote", "text": "A: “I just don’t think that they’re bringing in the right type of people to fix those things. But is their array a boat anchor, so to speak? Yeah. If you can’t fill up the chip, it’s going to be really hard to create such high-value product that amortizes that chip over how many genes or pools you’re going to get. You’ve got to use that entire landscape of a chip. If you use half a chip or a quarter chip, you’re going to lose money because each of those things is really expensive. It’s slightly over-engineered. They thought that solvents and temperature were going to solve everything, and it does make some improvements, but, at the same time, if you compare that to IDT using a flow-based oligos system, IDT is so much more profitable.”", "attrs": null, "subkind": "testimonial", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "0f628a86-1c6b-4f87-9aa1-f3e6f9e82d81", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.2, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.75 }, "kind": "quote", "text": "A: “Think about a tube, and you flow reagents down the tube, and then in a well, you’re actually doing the actual synthesis of the reagents. So, every time you add a base, it adds the base, then you flow in your next reagent, and it does a de-protection. Then you throw in another base and add the base after that. In the array system, you’re flowing the bases over hundreds or thousands of spots at the same time, and sometimes, you’re not meeting that base, but you’re flowing it over because you have to. So, instead of focusing on the reagent, you need to build a growing oligo. You have to worry about different ways of protecting and de-protecting to make sure that the base only goes to the wells or the nano-wells that need it and then doing it again. And you’re doing it on a planar surface with these little convex holes in it. It’s a very different thing. The way you quality control that. The way that you minimize reagents, all of those things are very different. I’m not saying that the way IDT does it is best. They focused on operational efficiency, and that’s why they did really well.” —Ex-senior executive of Gen9", "attrs": null, "subkind": "testimonial", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "3fb4766d-9b0f-4152-bbb6-6848561f9f18", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": null, "kind": "quote", "text": "“I just don’t think that they’re bringing in the right type of people to fix those things. But is their array a boat anchor, so to speak? Yeah. If you can’t fill up the chip, it’s going to be really hard to create such high-value product that amortizes that chip over how many genes or pools you’re going to get. If you use half a chip or a quarter chip, you’re going to lose money because each of those things is really expensive.” — Ex-senior executive of Gen9", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Authority citation", "toolSlug": "authority-citation", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-0932-77cf-bfeb-81348135affb", "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": "25ee7c7e-f1f3-415c-a1e8-83430d18951e", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.25, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.08 }, "kind": "title", "text": "Far from being a technological “innovation,” Twist’s chip is an albatross around their neck, a fatally flawed gimmick that is much more expensive and error-prone than legacy DNA synthesis methods employed by the rest of the industry. The comments by a founder of Gen9 – which used the same Agilent chip as Twist – are damning. He called the chip “a boat anchor” that is impossible to quality control, detailing why flow-based legacy DNA manufacturing is cheaper and higher quality than Twist’s so-called disruptive platform.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "headline", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "93ee3a08-83c9-4209-b49c-52ce25f3f916", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null } ], "metrics": [], "tools": [], "frameworks": [], "arcBeats": [], "loops": [ { "to": 100, "from": 90, "name": "Cost Of Inaction", "slug": "27-cost-of-inaction", "bestFor": "Urgent budget requests, compliance, risk mitigation", "matchId": "ba084e17-8baa-48c4-95ae-b7f2113f8ae2", "evidence": "Analysis of Twist's financial struggles and industry implications", "position": 1, "objective": "Highlight the consequences of Twist's actions", "structure": "The Status Quo -> The Hidden Costs Accumulating -> The Future State of Inaction -> The Tipping Point", "confidence": 0.6, "description": "Quantify what happens if the audience does nothing" } ], "imagePathAlt": null, "thumbSrc": null, "thumbSrcAlt": null, "locked": true }