BEIJING, Dec. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Origin
Agritech Ltd. (NASDAQ: SEED) (the "Company" or "Origin"),
an agriculture technology company, today is updating
shareholders on recent developments out of China regarding the path to GMO
commercialization in the country and also on the status of the
approval process for its different seed traits.
Last Friday, December
18th, in an historic statement out of the Central
Economic Work Conference, an annual gathering of top leaders and
policymakers that plot the country's economic course for the
following year, top CCP leaders said that they will industrialize
biotech breeding as a part of a campaign to improve food security.
Origin Agritech commends the government on this move toward GMO
positive and stands by ready, as one of the top GMO seed companies
in China, to rise to the challenge
of supplying farmers with outstanding GMO corn and soybean seeds to
facilitate this huge transformation of agriculture in China. These GMO seeds were developed with
different traits to increase yields, reduce the need for
insecticides, increase herbicide tolerance, salinity tolerance and
to make the plants drought tolerant.
The following is a list of Origin Agritech's various corn and
soybean traits and where they stand in the approval process:
- GMO Phytase Corn. The world's first GMO output trait received a
Bio-safety Certificate in 1999. Six GMO Phytase elite commercial
corn hybrids have completed production trials and are waiting for
variety approval.
- An herbicide tolerance corn. Status: Waiting for approval of
Bio-safety Certificate; more than 20 elite commercial hybrids with
GT traits in the production trials.
- A double stack of insect resistance and herbicide tolerance
corn--First Generation. Status: Waiting for the approval of
Bio-safety Certificate; more than 20 elite commercial hybrids with
Bt/Gt traits in the production trials.
- A double stack of insect resistance and herbicide tolerance
corn--Second Generation. Status: in the middle test.
- An herbicide tolerance soybean. Status: Approaching middle
test.
- A salinity tolerance and drought tolerance and water-saving
soybean. Status: Approaching middle test.
"Origin Agritech is nearing the end of an epic journey preparing
for the commercialization of GMO seeds in China, one which spanned many years, cost tens
of millions of dollars and had contributions from many brilliant
scientists," said Dr. Gengchen Han, Origin's Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer. "We now are positioned as one of only
several companies that has the potential to capitalize on this
multi-billion-dollar market opportunity, and we look forward to
improving food security for the country in the process."
About Origin Agritech Limited
Origin Agritech Limited, founded in 1997 and headquartered in
Zhong-Guan-Cun (ZGC) Life Science Park in Beijing, is a leading Chinese agricultural
technology company. In crop seed biotechnologies, Origin Agritech's
phytase corn was the first transgenic corn to receive the
Bio-Safety Certificate from China's Ministry of Agriculture. Over the
years, Origin has established a robust biotechnology seed pipeline
including products with glyphosate tolerance and pest resistance
(Bt) traits. For further information, please visit the Company's
website at: http://www.originseed.com.cn or
http://www.originseed.com.cn/en/. The company also
maintains a twitter account for updating investors on company and
industry developments, which is @origin_agritech.
Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains "forward-looking statements" as
defined in the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements address expected future business and financial
performance and financial condition, and contain words like
"expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek,"
"will," "would," "target," and similar expressions and variations.
Forward-looking statements address matters that are uncertain.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance
and are based on assumptions and expectations which may not be
realized. They are based on management's current expectations,
assumptions, estimates and projections about the Company and the
industry in which the Company operates but involve a number of
risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's
control. Some of the important factors that could cause the
company's actual results to differ materially from those discussed
in forward-looking statements are: failure to develop and market
new products and optimally manage product life cycles; ability to
respond to market acceptance, rules, regulations and policies
affecting our products; failure to appropriately manage process
safety and product stewardship issues; changes in laws and
regulations or political conditions; global economic and capital
markets conditions, such as inflation, interest and currency
exchange rates; business or supply disruptions; natural disasters
and weather events and patterns; ability to protect and enforce the
company's intellectual property rights; and separation of
underperforming or non-strategic assets or businesses. The company
undertakes no duty or obligation to publicly revise or update any
forward-looking statements as a result of future developments, or
new information or otherwise, should circumstances change, except
as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.
Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in
these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure
you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and actual
results may differ materially from the anticipated results. You are
urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the
forward-looking statements contained herein and are cautioned not
to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which
are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary
statements.
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SOURCE Origin Agritech Limited