Yield10 Bioscience Secures Regulatory Permits for U.S. and Canadian Sites and Announces Plans for 2020 Field Test Program in Camelina and Canola

WOBURN, Mass., May 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq:YTEN), an agricultural bioscience company, today announced that the Company has secured all of the regulatory permits required to conduct field tests for multiple traits at sites in the United States and Canada contracted for the 2020 growing season. Yield10’s 2020 Field Test Program will evaluate several novel traits in Camelina and canola. Planting is expected to begin in second quarter 2020 pending suitable weather conditions.

Yield10 utilizes the oilseed plant Camelina sativa to rapidly evaluate the activity of novel performance traits for development in Camelina as well as for licensing in key commercial crops, including canola, soybean, corn and other crops. Yield10 is also developing Camelina as a platform crop for developing and commercializing traits to produce nutritional oils and PHA biomaterials. Yield10’s expertise and development activities in oilseed crops extends to canola, where the Company is deploying novel yield traits and developing lines for crossing into elite, commercial varieties of canola.    

“The 2020 Field Test Program will be our largest to date in terms of the number of traits we will test and the number of field test sites involved in the U.S. and Canada,” said  Dr. Kristi Snell, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer of Yield10 Bioscience. “Our team worked very closely with crop regulatory authorities in the U.S. (USDA-APHIS) and Canada (CFIA) to secure the permits allowing shipment of seed to our contracted field test sites, marking a major milestone for Yield10 as we prepare for planting in the weeks ahead. Our field tests are designed to generate data that will support our ongoing development efforts for our traits in Camelina, canola and other commercial crops.”

A summary of the 2020 Field Test Program:

• Camelina/C3004: C3004 is a trait designed to increase seed yield that has shown promise in previous greenhouse and growth chamber experiments.
  
  
  
  
• Camelina/CRISPR E3902: E3902 is a CRISPR genome-edited trait designed to boost oil content.  This line gave positive results in 2019 field tests.
  
  
  
  
• Camelina/CRISPR C3007:  C3007 is a CRISPR genome-edited trait designed to boost oil content. This is the first season field testing the trait.
  
  
  
  
• Camelina/C3014 and C3015 :Yield10 has designed a novel trait and reprogrammed Camelina to produce PHA biomaterial as a third seed product. This is the first season field testing the trait.
  
  
  
  
• Canola/C3004: C3004 is a trait designed to increase seed yield. This is the first season field testing the trait in canola.
  
  
  
  
• Canola/C3003: Yield10 will grow 14 new canola/C3003 commercial quality lines for seed bulk up in the field in 2020 and plans to field test to measure performance of these lines in 2021. C3003 is a seed yield trait.  

In the field tests of its novel traits in Camelina and canola, Yield10 will monitor key agronomic and growth parameters of the plants throughout the growth period. Yield10 also plans to evaluate seed yield, oil content, PHA content and/or other parameters of the traits as appropriate after seed harvest. The program will also generate field grown seed for subsequent field studies. The field tests are designed to generate data on the activity of the novel traits and to advance the development of the traits toward commercialization.  

About Yield10 Bioscience

Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. is an agricultural bioscience company developing crop innovations to improve crop yields and enhance sustainable global food security. The Company utilizes its proprietary “GRAIN“ (Gene Ranking Artificial Intelligence Network) gene discovery platform to identify gene targets to improve yield performance and value in major commercial food and feed crops. Yield10 uses its Camelina oilseed platform to rapidly evaluate and field test new trait leads enabling the translation of promising new traits into the major commercial crops.  As a path toward commercialization, Yield10 is pursuing a partnering approach with agricultural companies to drive new traits into development in crops such as canola, soybean and corn. The Company is also developing Camelina as a platform crop for producing nutritional oils and specialty products such as PHA biomaterials for use in water treatment and bioplastics. Yield10 is headquartered in Woburn, MA and has an Oilseeds Center of Excellence in Saskatoon, Canada. 

For more information about the company, please visit , or follow the Company on , and .

(YTEN-G)

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements 

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release which are not strictly historical, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s intentions with regard to plans to conduct field tests with Camelina and canola in 2020, the results and outcome of those tests, the ability to use the results of the tests in future studies, and expectations with regard to the timing of (1) planting for its 2020 field tests, and (2) reporting results of the field tests, constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including the risks and uncertainties detailed in Yield10 Bioscience's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Yield10 assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the matters described herein.

Contacts: 

Yield10 Bioscience:

Lynne H. Brum, (617) 682-4693,

Investor Relations: 

Bret Shapiro, (561) 479-8566,

Managing Director, CORE IR

Media Inquiries:

Eric Fischgrund,

FischTank Marketing and PR