Cibus’ Achieves Another Milestone for a Durable White Mold (Sclerotinia) Resistance Trait in Canola

Rhea-AI Summary

Cibus (NASDAQ: CBUS) announced promising results from controlled environment testing of its third mode of action (MOA) for Sclerotinia resistance trait in Canola. The company's proprietary Rapid Trait Development System™ (RTDS®) technology enables the Trait Machine™, a semi-automated precision breeding system.

The company has completed edits in four MOAs for Sclerotinia resistance in Canola, with ongoing field tests for two of them. Management expects to complete field and/or greenhouse tests on all four MOAs by year-end 2025. The development aims to help farmers preserve crop yields and reduce fungicide usage.

This novel approach using gene editing demonstrates potential for developing durable resistance to complex diseases more quickly compared to conventional breeding methods. The company anticipates that these traits could extend to other crops like Soybean, addressing challenges posed by climate-driven changes in crop diseases and their geographic distribution.

Positive

• Successful demonstration of third mode of action for Sclerotinia resistance
• Completed edits in all four MOAs with two in field testing
• Technology shows potential for faster trait development vs conventional breeding
• Possible expansion of technology to other crops (Soybean)

Negative

• Field testing results still pending for two MOAs
• Commercial viability yet to be proven in real-world conditions

Initial bioassay data for Cibus’ third mode of action for white mold (Sclerotinia) resistance trait in canola shows promising results in controlled environment assessment

Cibus’ white mold resistance traits are expected to help preserve crop yields and reduce fungicide usage for farmers

SAN DIEGO, March 04, 2025 (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 controlled environment testing of its third mode of action (MOA) for its Sclerotinia resistance trait in Canola demonstrated enhanced resistance.

The core of Cibus’ gene editing technology is its Rapid Trait Development System™ or RTDS®. It is a system of proprietary technologies that integrates crop specific cell biology platforms with a series of gene editing technologies. RTDS enables the Trait Machine™, a stand-alone semi-automated end-to-end precision breeding system that is time bound and predictable, whose traits are indistinguishable from conventional breeding. Being able to develop and prototype different MOAs associated with Sclerotinia resistance trait in a series of timebound processes is an important ability of the Trait Machine process.

The Company has completed edits in each of four MOAs for its Sclerotinia resistance trait in Canola and has ongoing field tests for two of them. Management expects to complete field and/or greenhouse tests on all four of these MOAs by year end 2025 and expects to have additional edits and greenhouse results for its other MOAs by year end.

Greg Gocal, Co-Founder, Executive Vice President, and Chief Scientific Officer of Cibus, stated, “The results from our new third mode of action are very exciting and demonstrate our efforts to further improve Sclerotinia resistance in canola for the benefit of farmers who are looking for solutions to overcome this widespread disease. Using our RTDS process, this novel approach to develop resistance to complex diseases can be prototyped more quickly compared to a conventional breeding approach, where durable Sclerotinia resistance has not been achieved. Importantly, these new results give us a strong early indication that developing durable resistance using gene editing is commercially viable and can have potentially significant positive impacts for farmers.”

David Kendra, Executive Director of Advanced Trait Development of Cibus, commented, “We have identified multiple unique modes of action to generate resistance to white mold in canola specifically, and pests and diseases generally. The results across each of our modes of action have affirmed our expectation that our work in disease resistance can result in significant levels of resistance to fungal disease. We are pleased to demonstrate these results as we continue to develop traits in this timebound and predictable process.”

Peter Beetham, Co-Founder, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Cibus, added, “At Cibus, we continue to improve the level of resistance to Sclerotinia in canola and expect that the application of these traits will extend to other crops like Soybean. This is important as climate continues to impact the speed of change of diseases in crops and their geographic distribution. These new traits for major crops like canola will allow farmers to preserve yields, lower application costs, and reduce their use of crop protection products like fungicides.”

About Sclerotinia

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a fungal pathogen, that causes significant disease (stem rot) in crops including oilseed crops and most legumes including soybean. It globally 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) in sunflower production regions. It is most prevalent in warm moist environments.

About Cibus

Cibus is a leader in gene edited productivity traits that address critical productivity and sustainability challenges for farmers such as diseases and pests which the United Nations estimates cost the global economy approximately $300 billion annually. Cibus is not a seed company. It is a technology company that uses gene editing to develop and license traits to seed companies in exchange for royalties on seed sales. Cibus’ long-term focus is productivity traits for farmers for the major global row crops with large acreage such as canola, rice, and soybean. Cibus is a technology leader in high-throughput gene editing technology that is expected to enable it to develop and commercialize plant traits at a fraction of the time and cost of conventional breeding. Cibus has developed a current pipeline of five productivity traits including important traits for weed management in Rice, Pod Shatter Reduction, and Sclerotinia (disease) resistance, which are its near-term focus.

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, but are not limited to, statements regarding Cibus' operational performance, Cibus' strategy, future operations, prospects, and plans, including the anticipated receipt of commercial revenues and additional funding.

These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations and assumptions of Cibus' management about future events, which are based on currently available information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond the control of Cibus. Cibus' 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: Cibus' need for additional near-term funding to finance its activities and challenges in obtaining additional capital on acceptable terms, or at all; changes in expected or existing competition; challenges to Cibus' intellectual property protection and unexpected costs associated with defending intellectual property rights; increased or unanticipated time and resources required for Cibus' platform or trait product development efforts; Cibus' reliance on third parties in connection with its development activities; challenges associated with Cibus' ability to effectively license its productivity traits and sustainable ingredient products; the risk that farmers do not recognize the value in germplasm containing Cibus' traits or that farmers and processors fail to work effectively with crops containing Cibus' traits; delays or disruptions in the Company's platform or trait product development efforts, particularly with respect to its non-Rice and non-disease projects in light of the Company's realigned strategic priorities; challenges that arise in respect of Cibus' production of high-quality plants and seeds cost effectively on a large scale; Cibus' dependence on distributions from Cibus Global, LLC to pay taxes and cover its corporate and overhead expenses; regulatory developments that disfavor or impose significant burdens on gene-editing processes or products; delays and uncertainties regarding regulatory developments in the European Union; Cibus' ability to achieve commercial success; commodity prices and other market risks facing the agricultural sector; technological developments that could render Cibus' technologies obsolete; changes in macroeconomic and market conditions, including inflation, supply chain constraints, and rising interest rates; dislocations in the capital markets and challenges in accessing liquidity and the impact of such liquidity challenges on Cibus' ability to execute on its business plan; and other important factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of Cibus' Annual Report on Form 10-K which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 21, 2024. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.

In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Cibus' views as of the date hereof. Cibus specifically disclaims any obligation to update such forward-looking statements in the future, except as required under applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Cibus' views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.

CIBUS CONTACTS:

INVESTOR RELATIONS
Karen Troeber
ktroeber@cibus.com
858-450-2636

Jeff Sonnek – ICR
jeff.sonnek@icrinc.com

MEDIA RELATIONS
media@cibus.com
Colin Sanford
colin@bioscribe.com
203-918-4347

FAQ

What are the latest test results for Cibus' (CBUS) white mold resistance trait in Canola?

Controlled environment testing of Cibus' third mode of action (MOA) demonstrated enhanced resistance to Sclerotinia (white mold) in Canola.

How many modes of action has Cibus (CBUS) developed for Sclerotinia resistance?

Cibus has completed edits in four different modes of action (MOAs) for Sclerotinia resistance in Canola, with two currently under field testing.

When will Cibus (CBUS) complete testing for all Sclerotinia resistance MOAs?

Management expects to complete field and/or greenhouse tests on all four MOAs by year-end 2025.

What are the potential benefits of Cibus' (CBUS) Sclerotinia resistance traits for farmers?

The traits are expected to help farmers preserve crop yields, lower application costs, and reduce fungicide usage.

Can Cibus' (CBUS) Sclerotinia resistance technology be applied to other crops?

Yes, the company expects these resistance traits can be extended to other crops like Soybean.