Cibus Achieves Additional Milestone for Next Generation Gene Edits for Sclerotinia Resistance in Canola
Cibus has successfully made the edits in Canola associated with the Company’s 4th mode of action for its White Mold (Sclerotinia) trait
Builds upon Cibus’ progress with its Sclerotinia resistance trait in Canola after Field Trial results for its 2nd mode of action showed enhanced disease resistance
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cibus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBUS) (the “Company”), a leading agricultural technology company that develops and licenses plant traits to seed companies for royalties, today announced that it has successfully completed edits in Canola for its 4th mode of action for its Sclerotinia resistance trait and expects greenhouse results in the first quarter of 2025. Multiple modes of action, which are akin to a plant’s defenses to disease, are critical for durable disease resistance. This advancement builds upon the Company’s previously announced field trial results for its 2nd mode of action showing enhanced resistance to Sclerotinia in Canola plants edited with Cibus’ Sclerotinia resistance trait.
Greg Gocal, PhD, Co-Founder, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Cibus, stated, “The advancement of our work to address Sclerotinia demonstrates how Cibus’ technology can accelerate the time to develop traits using complex edits to address needs in agriculture. Sclerotinia is the most impactful disease in Canola reducing yields and is the second most impactful disease in Soybean. While these modes of action are being developed for our Sclerotinia resistance trait in Canola, they have potential in many other crops such as Soybean.”
Today’s announcement represents a major development in the Company’s progress toward providing durable White Mold resistance. Cibus believes that each of its edits for four different modes of action associated with Sclerotinia are unique and address important aspects of the disease pathology.
Rory Riggs, Chairman and CEO added, “Cibus continues to make strong progress with its advanced trait milestones, including targeting gene edits that will provide plants with multiple modes of action against diseases like Sclerotinia. This approach is similar to the use of antivirals in the pharmaceutical industry, where Cibus is providing crops like Canola novel traits to fight off disease infection. Because plant pathogens can evolve rapidly, the Company believes that it is important to provide multiple modes of action to develop a trait that is broadly applicable and is durable over time.”
About Sclerotinia
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a fungal pathogen, that causes significant disease (stem rot) in oilseed crops. It affects 14-30% of Canola/Oil Seed Rape (OSR) fields annually, and potentially up to 90% as estimated by the Canola Council of Canada in 2016. White Mold can reduce Canola yields by 7-15%, with yield losses per infected plant being as great as 50%. The Canola Council of Canada calls Sclerotinia stem rot the most economically significant Canola disease in Canada It is also a significant disease in Soybean with a prevalence of sclerotia recovered ranged between 33.3% (2015) and 78.3% (2020) in Soybean production regions and 9.1% (2013). It is most prevalent in warm moist environments.
About Cibus
Cibus is a leading independent plant trait company that develops and licenses plant traits to seed companies for royalties. Cibus is not a seed company, but rather a technology company that uses its proprietary gene editing technology to develop and commercialize plant traits at a fraction of the time and cost of conventional breeding. Cibus’ strategy is focused on commercializing productivity traits for the world’s major row crops with large acreage such as: canola, rice, soybean, corn and wheat. The Company targets traits that help manage farmers’ seed productivity, economics and sustainability challenges such as weeds, disease, and insects. The United Nations estimates that the impacts from these challenges cost the global economy approximately $300 billion annually. Cibus has a current portfolio of six traits, three of which are in commercial development and four of which are multi-crop traits associated with weed management and disease, including Sclerotinia resistance and a new weed management trait which are in advanced greenhouse and field trial stages.
CIBUS CONTACTS:
INVESTOR RELATIONS
Karen Troeber
858-450-2636
Jeff Sonnek – ICR
MEDIA RELATIONS
Colin Sanford
203-918-4347
