Calyxt and S&W Seed Company Announce Milestone in Alfalfa Seed Development Program

MINNEAPOLIS & ST. PAUL, Minn. & SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Calyxt, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLXT), a consumer-centric, food- and agriculture-focused company, and S&W Seed Company (Nasdaq: SANW), a global leader in the alfalfa seed industry, today announced the successful transfer of their proprietary alfalfa seed and plants from the research and development facility at Calyxt to S&W for field evaluation and testing. This marks a significant milestone in the collaboration between the two companies.

In 2015, Calyxt and S&W Seed Company embarked on a collaboration to research, develop, produce and commercialize alfalfa seed products involving Calyxt’s proprietary gene editing technology, TALEN®, and S&W’s industry-leading alfalfa seed genetics. The collaboration between Calyxt and S&W is focused on providing enhanced traits in alfalfa that can drive improved productivity, while decreasing input costs to meet the growing global demand for improved quality alfalfa seeds.

The affirmation of the strategy to utilize Calyxt’s proprietary gene editing technology as a way to develop non-regulated varieties occurred in October 2017 when the first alfalfa targeted mutations had been designated as a non-regulated article under the “Am I Regulated?” process by the Biotechnology Regulatory Services of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The improved quality alfalfa product was the first-ever alfalfa product to receive this non-regulated distinction from the USDA.

S&W will now conduct open field trials throughout the United States to progress the development and characterization of new varieties with this enhanced digestibility trait.

Mark Wong, CEO of S&W Seed Company, commented, “Unique trait technology in alfalfa seed varieties that are non-regulated, and are available to be grown by farmers in regions that currently prohibit GMO trait technology, is considered by many to be the holy grail within our industry. Today’s announcement of the successful molecular trait development work by Calyxt and commensurate transfer of the plants to S&W for field trials is an important milestone in advancing that outcome.”

“Advancing this improved quality alfalfa crop to field trials marks yet another major step in our mission to develop specialty food ingredients that have agriculturally advantageous traits for farmers. In addition, it proves Calyxt’s gene editing platform and product development capabilities in multiple crops,” said Federico Tripodi, CEO of Calyxt. “We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partner S&W Seed Company as we push forward toward commercialization and bringing our first alfalfa product to market in the near future.”

About Calyxt
Calyxt, Inc. is a consumer-centric, food- and agriculture-focused company. Calyxt is pioneering a paradigm shift to deliver healthier food ingredients, such as healthier oils and high fiber wheat, for consumers and crop traits that benefit the environment and reduce pesticide applications, such as disease tolerance, for farmers. Calyxt develops non-transgenic crops leveraging processes that occur in nature by combining its leading gene-editing technology and technical expertise with its innovative commercial strategy. Calyxt is located in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, and is listed on the Nasdaq market (ticker: CLXT).

For further information please visit our website: www.calyxt.com
Calyxt™ and the corporate logo are trademarks owned by Calyxt, Inc.
TALEN® is a registered trademark owned by the Cellectis S.A.

About S&W Seed Company
Founded in 1980, S&W Seed Company is a global agricultural Company, headquartered in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The Company’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. The Company 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. The Company 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.

Calyxt Forward-Looking Statements
This communication 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 “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue,” the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance, our anticipated growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those factors discussed under the caption entitled “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, along with our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We do 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 applicable laws.

S&W Forward-Looking Statements
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 statements regarding future research and development activities, product development and sales of newly-developed products, among others. 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 we may not achieve our expected results, risks associated with our distributors’ abilities to effectively distribute and market our products, risks associated with our ability to successfully commercialize, optimize and diversify our business, and risks related to factors beyond our control that may impact market prices or demand for our products. 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 subsequent 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 and are based on management’s assumptions and estimates as of such date. The Company does 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.

 

Contacts

Calyxt
Media contacts
Jennifer Moore, Phone: 917-580-1088
VP Communications
email: media@calyxt.com
or
Investor Relations
Simon Harnest, Phone: 646-385-9008
VP Corporate Strategy and Finance
email: simon.harnest@calyxt.com
or
S&W Seed Company
Investor Relations
Lytham Partners, LLC
Robert Blum / Joe Dorame / Joe Diaz
602.889.9700
Email: sanw@lythampartners.com
or
S&W Seed Company
Matthew Szot, 559.884.2535
CFO

 

Source: Calyxt

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