Cibus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBUS), a leading agricultural
technology company that develops and licenses plant traits to seed
companies, welcomes the vote of the European Parliament on 7th
February in favour of new legislation for New Genomic Techniques
(NGTs). Cibus applauds the EU Parliament supporting a science-based
approach developed following many years of discussion and
engagement with stakeholders and expert groups.
The EU Parliament met 5-8 February in Strasbourg and, following
a debate on Tuesday Feb 6th, the Parliament voted in favour of the
NGT legislation the following day. Parliamentary negotiators now
have a mandate to engage in 3-way discussions with the EU Council
and the European Commission to agree on the final text of the
legislation prior to formal adoption.
The legislation is part of a package of measures designed to
ensure the sustainable use of natural resources and to strengthen
the resilience of EU food systems. It describes a category of NGTs,
classed as targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis, producing
modifications that could be obtained in nature or by conventional
breeding. These are determined to be ‘Conventional-like’ and, once
verified, would be regulated in the same way as conventional
varieties.
In addition to enabling EU growers to benefit from improved
varieties, the proposed regulation would also help facilitate
international trade by bringing EU policy closer to that of trading
partners in North and South America, UK, India, Australia, and
Japan.
MEP and rapporteur Jessica Polfjärd said of the vote,
“Historic step forward: the European Parliament supports my
proposal for sustainable use of new genomic techniques (NGT). A
game changer for sustainable agriculture and a clear signal that we
embrace science and support our farmers.”
“The parliamentary vote is a significant milestone in the EU
legislative process providing a welcome boost to innovators
particularly in academia and small and mid-sized enterprises
developing NGT products that can contribute to a sustainable EU
agri-food system,” commented Tony Moran, Senior Vice President of
International Development and Government Affairs at Cibus.
“This is a pivotal moment in the development of a sustainable
global food supply system. The promise of gene editing is its
ability to address major challenges of farming such as disease,
insects and a globally changing environment with greater speed and
precision with traits that are indistinguishable from conventional
breeding. This vote continues a global alignment to regulate
certain gene editing applications as conventional and to enable
this revolution to help farmers,” stated Rory Riggs CEO of
Cibus.
About the Cibus RTDS®-based High Throughput Breeding
System
A key element of Cibus’ technology breakthrough is its High
Throughput Breeding Process (referred to as the Trait Machine™
system). The Trait Machine process is a crop specific application
of Cibus’ patented Rapid Trait Development System™
(RTDS®). The proprietary technologies
in RTDS integrate crop specific cell
biology platforms with a series of gene editing technologies to
enable a system of end-to-end crop specific precision breeding. It
is the core technology platform for Cibus’ Trait Machine: the first
standardized end-to-end semi-automated crop specific gene editing
system that directly edits a seed company’s elite germplasm. Each
Trait Machine process requires a crop specific cell biology
platform that enables Cibus to edit a single cell from a customer’s
elite germplasm and grow that edited cell into a plant with the
Cibus edits. Cibus has Trait Machine platforms developed for canola
and rice and has already begun transferring their elite germplasm
with Cibus edits back to customers.
The traits from Cibus’ RTDS-based High
Throughput Breeding System are indistinguishable from traits
developed using conventional breeding or from nature.
RTDS does not use any foreign DNA or transgenes.
Under the European Commission current proposals, it is expected
that products from Cibus’ RTDS gene editing
platform such as its pod shatter reduction trait and Sclerotinia
resistance traits for Canola and Winter Oilseed Rape would be
considered ‘Conventional-like'.
Cibus believes that RTDS and the
Trait Machine process represent the technological breakthrough in
plant breeding that is the ultimate promise of plant gene editing:
“High Throughput Gene Editing Systems operating as an extension of
seed company breeding programs.”
About Cibus
Cibus is a leader in Gene Edited Productivity traits that
address critical productivity and sustainability challenges for
farmers such as diseases and pests which the United Nations
estimates cost the global economy approximately $300 billion
annually. Cibus is not a seed company. It is a technology company
that uses gene editing to develop and license traits to seed
companies in exchange for royalties on seed sales. Cibus’ focus is
productivity traits for the major global crops such as canola,
rice, soybean, and wheat. Cibus is a technology leader in high
throughput gene editing technology that enables Cibus to develop
and commercialize plant traits at a fraction of the time and cost
of conventional breeding. Using its Trait Machine Process, Cibus
has developed a pipeline of five productivity traits including
important traits for pod shatter reduction, Sclerotinia resistance
and weed management. Its initial traits for pod shatter reduction
and weed management are developed in collaborations with leading
seed companies. Its other pipeline traits including Sclerotinia
resistance are in advanced greenhouse and field trial stages.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of applicable securities laws, including The Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other
than statements of present or historical fact included herein,
including statements regarding Cibus’ operational and financial
performance, Cibus’ strategy, future operations, prospects and
plans, including the anticipated regulatory environment are
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be
identified by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,”
“expect,” “plan,” “scheduled,” “could,” “would” and “will,” or the
negative of these and similar expressions.
These forward-looking statements are based on the current
expectations and assumptions of Cibus’ management about future
events, which are based on currently available information. These
forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and
uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond
the control of Cibus. Cibus’ actual results, level of activity,
performance, or achievements could be materially different than
those expressed, implied, or anticipated by forward-looking
statements due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited
to: changes in expected or existing competition; challenges to
Cibus’ intellectual property protection and unexpected costs
associated with defending intellectual property rights; increased
or unanticipated time and resources required for Cibus’ platform or
trait product development efforts; Cibus’ reliance on third parties
in connection with its development activities; challenges
associated with Cibus’ ability to effectively license its
productivity traits and sustainable ingredient products; the risk
that farmers do not recognize the value in germplasm containing
Cibus’ traits or that farmers and processors fail to work
effectively with crops containing Cibus’ traits; challenges that
arise in respect of Cibus’ production of high-quality plants and
seeds cost effectively on a large scale; Cibus’ need for additional
funding to finance its activities and challenges in obtaining
additional capital on acceptable terms, or at all; Cibus’
dependence on distributions from Cibus Global, LLC to pay taxes and
cover its corporate and overhead expenses; regulatory developments
that disfavor or impose significant burdens on gene-editing
processes or products; Cibus’ ability to achieve commercial
success; commodity prices and other market risks facing the
agricultural sector; technological developments that could render
Cibus’ technologies obsolete; changes in macroeconomic and market
conditions, including inflation, supply chain constraints, and
rising interest rates; dislocations in the capital markets and
challenges in accessing liquidity and the impact of such liquidity
challenges on Cibus’ ability to execute on its business plan; the
Company's assessment of the period of time through which its
financial resources will be adequate to support operations; and
other important factors discussed in “Risk Factors of Cibus, Inc.”
filed as Exhibit 99.3 with Cibus’ Current Report on Form 8-K, which
was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”)
on June 1, 2023, as updated by the supplemental risk factors
included in the Company's Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on
October 18, 2023 and December 12, 2023, each as may be updated by
any additional “Risk Factors” identified in Cibus’ subsequent
reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K filed with the SEC. Should one or
more of these risks or uncertainties occur, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and plans could differ
materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.
Cibus’ assessment of the period of time through which its financial
resources will be adequate to support its operations is a
forward-looking statement and involves such risks and
uncertainties. Accordingly, the Company could use its available
capital resources sooner than it currently expects.
In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this
press release represent Cibus’ views as of the date hereof. Cibus
specifically disclaims any obligation to update such
forward-looking statements in the future, except as required under
applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be
relied upon as representing Cibus’ views as of any date subsequent
to the date hereof.
CIBUS CONTACTS:
Investor Relations Karen Troeber
ktroeber@cibus.com 858-450-2636
Jeff Sonnek – ICR jeff.sonnek@icrinc.com
Media Relations
Colin Sanford colin@bioscribe.com 203-918-4347
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