SACRAMENTO, Calif.,
Feb. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/
-- S&W Seed Company (Nasdaq: SANW) today announced
that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted S&W a
patent covering its unique stevia plant variety 'SW 227.' S&W
believes that its SW 227 variety has an excellent, sweet leaf taste
with very low bitterness and aftertaste, and is late flowering,
with high plant vigor characterized by extensive stooling and
branching, enhanced dry leaf yields and leaves having an average
rebaudioside A content of 10.7%.
The patent was issued on February 20,
2018, as U.S. Plant Patent PP28977. The term of an issued
plant patent is the same as that of an issued utility patent, which
is 20 years from the patent's filing date. Based on the filing
date, the patent for SW 227 will expire on March 31, 2036. This is S&W's fourth patent
granted for its unique stevia varieties.
Mark Wong, president and chief
executive officer of S&W, said, "We are dedicated to developing
stevia as a U.S.-grown crop. All stevia is currently produced in
Asia. In speaking with potential
stevia customers, we believe that there is significant demand for
stevia produced in the United
States and that S&W is uniquely positioned to develop
this market opportunity. Our goal is to use our proprietary
germplasm in stevia and leverage our farmer grower network to
create a U.S.-based stevia production industry for high-quality
stevia sweetener with superior taste profiles to supply major
customers in the U.S. market."
About S&W's Unique Stevia Varieties
Fresh and Dry Leaf Market
Stevia variety 'SW 201', S&W's first patented variety for the
fresh and dry leaf market, is not only believed to have a sweet
taste with very little bitterness and aftertaste, but exhibited
more Reb-A, less stevioside, more total steviol glycosides, a
higher Reb-A to stevioside ratio, and a higher percentage of Reb-A
to total steviol glycosides than the comparison samples from common
varieties.
S&W believes that Stevia variety 'SW 227' has an excellent,
sweet leaf taste with very low bitterness and aftertaste, and is
late flowering, with high plant vigor characterized by extensive
stooling and branching, enhanced dry leaf yields and leaves having
an average Reb-A content of 10.7%.
Commercial Processing Market
Stevia variety 'SW 107' exhibited increased concentrations of Reb-A
sweetener and higher leaf mass production than the comparison
samples of currently available varieties. SW 107 has been bred to
address commercial processing markets in North America, South
America and other regions of the world that have climates
suitable for it.
S&W believes that Stevia variety 'SW 129' has very sweet
leaves with high levels of steviol glycosides, very low bitterness
and aftertaste with excellent overwintering, high plant vigor, high
leaf yield and late flowering. S&W believes that SW 129 is
ideally suited for commercial level stevia extraction due to these
enhanced characteristics.
About S&W Seed Company
Founded in 1980, S&W
Seed Company is a global agricultural company headquartered in
Sacramento, California. S&W's
vision is to be the world's preferred proprietary seed company
which supplies a range of forage and specialty crop products that
supports the growing global demand for animal proteins and
healthier consumer diets. S&W is a global leader in alfalfa
seed, with significant research and development, production and
distribution capabilities. S&W's capabilities span the world's
alfalfa seed production regions, with operations in the
Western United States, including
the San Joaquin and Imperial
Valleys of California,
Australia, and Canada, and S&W sells its seed products in
more than 30 countries around the globe. S&W also provides
hybrid sorghum and sunflower, and is utilizing its research and
breeding expertise to develop and produce stevia, the all-natural,
zero calorie sweetener for the food and beverage industry. For more
information, please visit www.swseedco.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such
forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
"Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans,
results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as
"may," "future," "plan" or "planned," "will" or "should,"
"expected," "anticipates," "draft," "eventually" or "projected."
Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not
limited to, statements concerning our expectations regarding the
demand for stevia produced in the United
States and our positioning to develop this market
opportunity, the various characteristics of SW 201, SW 227, SW 107
and SW 129 and their commercial suitability, and our stevia
production and commercialization strategies and our ability to
execute those strategies. You are cautioned that such statements
are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could
cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially
from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including
the risk that our strategic initiatives may not achieve the
expected results, and risks associated with our ability to
successfully optimize and commercialize our business . These and
other risks are identified in our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, our Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017 and in our other filings
subsequently made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All
forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak
only as of the date on which they were made. We do not undertake
any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of the receipt of new information, the
occurrence of future events or otherwise.
Company
Contact:
|
Investor
Contact:
|
Matthew Szot, Chief
Financial Officer
|
Joe Dorame, Robert
Blum, Joe Diaz
|
S&W Seed
Company
|
Lytham Partners,
LLC
|
Phone: (559)
884-2535
|
Phone: (602)
889-9700
|
www.swseedco.com
|
sanw@lythampartners.com
|
|
www.lythampartners.com
|
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SOURCE S&W Seed Company