GERMANTOWN, Md. and
MAYNARD, Mass., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Intrexon
Corporation (NASDAQ: XON), a leader in the engineering and
industrialization of biology to improve the quality of life and
health of the planet, and AquaBounty Technologies,
Inc. (NASDAQ: AQB), a biotechnology company focused on
enhancing productivity in the aquaculture market and a
majority-owned subsidiary of Intrexon, announced that their jointly
developed gene edited line of tilapia, FLT 01, is exempt from
GM regulation according to Argentina's National Advisory Commission on
Agricultural Biotechnology (CONABIA). This line of tilapia enables
more sustainable production through improvements in fillet yield,
growth and feed conversion efficiency, enabling the tilapia to grow
to market weight in less time, while also consuming less feed than
conventional varieties.
The engineered tilapia were developed using gene editing
techniques and do not contain any foreign DNA or a new combination
of genetic material that would warrant their regulation as
genetically modified in Argentina.
FLT 01 is believed to be one of the first gene edited food animals
to receive a regulatory exemption due to its designation as a
non-GMO. As the companies look to move this product toward
commercialization, standard food and environmental safety
considerations will still apply to this product prior to
introduction.
"We are focused on developing animal biotechnology for
aquaculture and livestock through our subsidiaries to support
sustainable food production in the U.S. and abroad," said LTG
(Ret.) Thomas Bostick, PhD, PE,
Chief Operating Officer of Intrexon. "We are pleased with
Argentina's leadership in
establishing a transparent and predictable process for the
advancement of products developed with gene editing techniques and
see this as a critical development for companies seeking to bring
highly innovative solutions to the global market using powerful and
highly precise genetic tools. Moreover, enhancing regulatory
certainty for products derived from biotechnology is critical to
the future of agricultural innovation."
Tilapia is the fourth most consumed seafood after shrimp, salmon
and canned tuna and is forecasted to be one of the highest growth
production segments in aquaculture. The jointly developed tilapia
demonstrates a significant improvement in fillet yield of 70%, a
growth rate improvement of 16% as well as a feed conversion rate
improvement of 14%, offering promise to producers to shorten the
time to harvest. A shortened production cycle can reduce input
costs, increase production outputs and reduce risk of disease.
Defining sustainable solutions such as this tilapia will be
critical to providing nutritious products to a growing
population.
"AquaBounty is committed to advancing novel technologies
into the marketplace to improve sustainability in aquaculture and
through our productive collaboration with Intrexon have been able
to make significant progress toward this goal," said Ronald Stotish, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of
AquaBounty. "We look forward to continuing our work with the
Intrexon team and realizing the potential of biological engineering
approaches to enhancing aquaculture productivity."
About Intrexon Corporation
Intrexon Corporation
(NASDAQ: XON) is Powering the Bioindustrial Revolution with Better
DNA™ to create biologically-based products that
improve the quality of life and the health of the planet.
Intrexon's integrated technology suite provides its partners across
diverse markets with industrial-scale design and development of
complex biological systems delivering unprecedented control,
quality, function, and performance of living cells. We call
our synthetic biology approach Better DNA®, and we
invite you to discover more at www.dna.com or follow us on
Twitter at @Intrexon, on Facebook, and LinkedIn.
About AquaBounty
AquaBounty is a small company with
offices in Maynard, Massachusetts
and Fortune, Prince Edward Island.
Founded in 1991, AquaBounty's driving force is the belief that
modern genetics, married with technological advances in aquaculture
production, can spur a radically more responsible and sustainable
way of farming Atlantic salmon. Breakthroughs in modern bioscience
have revitalized aquaculture and AquaBounty is at the forefront of
this Blue Revolution.
Trademarks
Intrexon, Powering the Bioindustrial
Revolution with Better DNA, and Better DNA are trademarks of
Intrexon and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of
their respective owners.
Safe Harbor Statement
Some of the statements made in
this press release are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are based upon our current expectations
and projections about future events and generally relate to our
plans, objectives and expectations for the development of our
business. Although management believes that the plans and
objectives reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking
statements are reasonable, all forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties and actual future results may be materially
different from the plans, objectives and expectations expressed in
this press release.
For more information, contact:
Intrexon Investor
Contact:
Steven
Harasym
Vice President,
Investor Relations
Tel: +1 (214)
721-0607
investors@dna.com
|
Intrexon Corporate
Contact:
Marie Rossi,
PhD
Vice President,
Communications
Tel: +1 (301)
556-9850
publicrelations@dna.com
|
AquaBounty
Contact:
Dave
Conley
Director of
Communications
Tel: +1 (613) 294-3078
|
|
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SOURCE Intrexon Corporation; AquaBounty Technologies, Inc.