ROSEVILLE, Minn., Jan. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Calyxt,
Inc. (Nasdaq: CLXT), a plant-based synthetic biotechnology
company, today announced that its pilot BioFactory™ production
system, installed in late December
2021, is now operational at its headquarters site in
Minnesota.
"I am proud of the effort our team and suppliers made to achieve
this milestone on schedule, as it marks an important step in the
scaling of our production. The data we collect and analyze will
drive future decisions as well as help improve our test cycles and
development timeline," said Michael A.
Carr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Calyxt.
"We are encouraged by the number of inbounds from potential
customers regarding our technology and the quality of our
conversations. We are seeking customer orders of two to four
compounds for development by year end 2022, and as a result are
using our selection criteria to determine the compounds to pursue
based on customer need. We look forward to providing further
updates on our continued scaling and customer acquisition
throughout the year."
On October 5, 2021, Calyxt
announced the launch of a strategic initiative that focused the
Company on engineering synthetic biology solutions for a
diversified base of customers using its expanded proprietary
PlantSpring™ technology platform. The output from PlantSpring is
integrated with the Company's BioFactory production system,
enabling Calyxt to rapidly prototype and produce complex
plant-derived compounds without the need for outdoor cropping
systems.
Calyxt's proprietary Plant Cell Matrix™ systems have been placed
in the BioFactory, where they will be used for testing at
pilot-scale production. The pilot is currently in its testing
period, during which time the Company will ensure the system,
including its data generation and communication capabilities for
artificial intelligence modeling, is working as expected. This is a
key step in understanding the scaling capability of the BioFactory
production system.
About the PlantSpring™ Technology Platform and BioFactory™
Production System
Calyxt's technology platform, PlantSpring,
is founded on the Company's more than a decade of experience
engineering plant metabolism, and includes its scientific
knowledge, its proprietary systems, tools, and technologies; and an
expanding set of AIML capabilities. This licensable platform
delivers innovation through an efficient development process. The
process includes identification of breakthrough compounds based on
customer needs, design strategies to reprogram host cells,
engineering of plant cell metabolism to optimally produce targeted
plant-based chemistries, and production of those target chemistries
at laboratory scale. Calyxt has developed early-stage AIML
capabilities in PlantSpring, which enable learning and adaptation
of knowledge gained from past activity and can be combined with
predictive analytics to rapidly prototype and provide feedback,
accelerating the time to complete the design-engineer-verify
development cycle and helping mitigate the risk associated with
commercial scale-up. As a result, Calyxt believes it can develop
biomolecules in plants for customers at faster speeds than its
competitors in the synthetic biology industry. The output from the
PlantSpring platform integrates with the Company's newly
commissioned BioFactory production system.
The BioFactory production system is the culmination of the work
of Calyxt's researchers and will enable the Company to expand its
production methods from solely outdoor agriculture systems to also
include controlled environment, bioreactor-based production
systems. The BioFactory harnesses the potential of plant cells in a
multicellular matrixed structure and utilizes nutrient media for
its production. The BioFactory leverages multiple cell types, and
the multicellular matrix structures enable processing of
plant-based chemistries of increased complexity relative to those
possible using traditional fermentation systems or single cell
plant culture methods. In addition, the speed of the matrix growth
over time is expected to accelerate the production of the compound
at scale. As a result, Calyxt's production system is capable of
unlocking the power of plants to produce complex compounds that are
finite, difficult to source sustainably, and that may not be able
to be produced using other production methods. Calyxt has been
running lab-scale bioreactors for several months and its first
pilot-scale bioreactor has been commissioned and is expected to be
online by the end of 2021. There may be a range of vessel sizes
between the initial pilot facility and commercial production. For
transition from pilot to commercialization, the Company's current
plan is to use third parties, referred to as infrastructure
partners, for at-scale BioFactory production. Because of its
production methodology, Calyxt believes the BioFactory has the
potential to be one of the most sustainable production systems
across industries.
About Calyxt:
Calyxt (Nasdaq: CLXT) is a plant-based
synthetic biotechnology company. The Company leverages its
proprietary PlantSpring™ technology platform to engineer innovative
materials and products for its customers to help them meet their
sustainability goals. Calyxt's diversified offerings are primarily
delivered through its proprietary BioFactory™ production system.
For more information, visit www.calyxt.com.
PlantSpring, BioFactory, Plant Cell Matrix, and the Calyxt logo
are trademarks of Calyxt, Inc. Any other trademarks belong to their
respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release
contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify these
statements by forward-looking words such as "anticipates,"
"believes," "continue," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may,"
"might," "plans," "predicts," "projects," "should," "targets,"
"will," or the negative of these terms and other similar
terminology. Forward-looking statements in this press release
include statements about Calyxt's product pipeline and development;
Calyxt's ability to utilize the BioFactory to engineer precursor
molecules and to convert these to broader chemistries demanded by
potential customers; Calyxt's ability to achieve target molecule
production and performance at greater scale; and the commercial
demand for Calyxt's synthetic biology solutions. These and other
forward-looking statements are predictions and projections about
future events and trends based on Calyxt's current expectations,
objectives, and intentions and are premised on current assumptions.
Calyxt's 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: the impact of
increased competition, including competition from a broader array
of synthetic biology companies; disruptions at Calyxt's key
facilities, including disruptions impacting its BioFactory
production system; changes in customer preferences and market
acceptance of Calyxt's products; competition for customers,
partners, and licensees and the successful execution of development
and licensing agreements; the impact of adverse events during
development, including unsuccessful pilot production of compounds
or generation of inconsistent data; disruptions to supply chains,
including raw material inputs for Calyxt's BioFactory; the impact
of changes or increases in oversight and regulation; disputes or
challenges regarding intellectual property; proliferation and
continuous evolution of new technologies; and other important
factors discussed under the caption entitled "Risk Factors" in
Calyxt's Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings on Form
10-Q or Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Any forward-looking statements made by Calyxt's management are
based only on information currently available to it when, and speak
only as of the date, such statement is made. Calyxt does not assume
any obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change,
except as otherwise required by law.
Contacts:
Calyxt Media
Contact:
|
Calyxt Investor
Relations Contact:
|
David Rosen/John
Garabo/Michael Barron
|
Sherri Spear/Cameron
Willis
|
Argot
Partners
|
Argot
Partners
|
(212)
600-1902
|
(212)
600-1902
|
media@calyxt.com
|
investors@calyxt.com
|
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SOURCE Calyxt, Inc.