Jon Stojan
Forget the woolly mammoth for a moment. Colossal Biosciences, the ambitious and groundbreaking company that made history earlier this year by bringing back the dire wolf, has made a far more immediate and concrete move: it has just acquired Viagen, the undisputed global heavyweight in animal cloning. Colossal has added yet another secret weapon to their toolkit giving them a serious, real-world edge in conservation and, yes, de-extinction. Global Icon Paris Hilton, a Colossal investor agreed, “Colossal’s acquisition of Viagen is just another exciting step in their path to bringing back earth’s biodiversity in volume.“
Viagen, the Texas-based experts famous for cloning everything from beloved house pets to championship horses, holds the keys to technologies that read like a sci-fi script. Their expertise isn’t theoretical; it’s proven in the lab and the field. Need a benchmark? Viagen boasts success rates for cloning multiple species nearing 80%, blowing the published 2% average out of the water. Colossal founder and CEO Ben Lamm couldn’t be happier: “Colossal is thrilled to welcome Viagen, the world’s leading cloning company, into our portfolio. No other company comes close to what Viagen has achieved. Their unmatched expertise and cloning technology stack have become the world’s standard, and their application of these critical and proprietary technologies to endangered species conservation makes them an invaluable partner in advancing our global de-extinction and species preservation mission.”
This is Colossal’s first acquisition, marking a transition from launching spin-off companies to integrating established, mission-critical assets. Viagen already holds exclusive licensing and access to technologies developed by the Roslin Institute of Edinburgh—the birthplace of Dolly the sheep.
Iconic film director Peter Jackson, an investor in Colossal, has been following the business for years, “As an admirer of Viagen and an investor in Colossal, I am excited about how the combined approaches to animal welfare, biobanking, and cloning can be used not only with beloved pets but for more challenging endangered species. These two companies together give humanity a real shot at saving the planet’s biodiversity.”
Viagen’s technology isn’t just a powerful tool for de-extinction; it’s a critical safety net for today’s threatened species, and even pets who for many, are like family members. Such was the case for Margot L. Pritzker, Chair of the Aspen Institute Board of Trustees / Co-Founder and Executive Chair, Community Food Navigator who shared, “My dog Jake died early and unexpectedly from Lymphoma. It was crushing to our family. Being able to work with Viagen was transformative. They walked me through the process and really helped me understand what was possible. I felt cared for in a way that I didn’t expect, and they gave us an opportunity to have another lifetime with Jake through their cloning technologies.”
This deal ensures that if you want to bring back a species, or simply safeguard its future, Colossal is the one-stop shop with the most potent technology on Earth. The clock is ticking for countless endangered animals, and Colossal just bought itself—and them—a serious amount of time.