ViaGen Pets

Last updated

ViaGen Pets
Company type Division
Founded2002;23 years ago (2002)
Headquarters
Cedar Park, Texas
,
United States
Parent Colossal Biosciences
Website viagenpets.com

ViaGen Pets & Equine, based in Cedar Park, Texas, is a division of Colossal Biosciences that offers animal cloning services. ViaGen's Pets division was launched in 2016. [1]

Contents

Technology and patents

ViaGen Pets offers cloning as well as DNA preservation services, sometimes called tissue or cell banking. [2]

ViaGen's subsidiary, Start Licensing, owns a cloning patent which is licensed to their only competitor as of 2018, who also offers animal cloning services. [3] The cloning process used by both ViaGen and their competitor is somatic cell nuclear transfer, the same as which was used for cloning Dolly the Sheep. [3]

History

ViaGen was founded in Austin, Texas in 2002. [4] ViaGen began by offering cloning to the livestock and equine industry in 2003, [1] and later included cloning of cats and dogs in 2016. [5]

In 2020, ViaGen achieved the first successful cloning of an endangered species in the United States, the black-footed ferret. [6] As of 2025, ViaGen had successfully cloned 15 species, including Przewalski’s horse. [6]

In November 2025, ViaGen was acquired by Colossal Biosciences. [4] [7]

References

  1. 1 2 Castillo, Michelle (March 8, 2018). "This woman paid $50,000 to clone her dead chihuahua...twice". CNBC . Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  2. ↑ Claiborne, Casey (January 11, 2020). "Cedar Park company ViaGen cloning favorite pets". FOX 7 Austin . Archived from the original on January 11, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Baron, Jessica (December 24, 2018). "If You Love Animals, Don't Clone Your Pet". Forbes . Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Pauda, Erica (November 4, 2025). "Colossal Biosciences acquires Austin-based company, Viagen Pets and Equine". KXAN . Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Viagen Pets take animal cloning from research lab to marketplace". WTOC . May 18, 2020. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  6. 1 2 Snider, Mike (November 4, 2025). "Biotech company Colossal, which brought dire wolves back to life, acquires Viagen". USA Today . Archived from the original on November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Colossal Biosciences acquires Texas-based biotech company specializing in animal cloning". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved November 27, 2025.
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