Legislation aims to adapt EU law to reflect scientific and technological progress, enabling the products of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), such as gene editing, to contribute to more sustainable agriculture, climate resilience, and food security
Proposed legislation identifies a ‘conventional-like’ category of NGT-1 products that would be regulated as conventional varieties, bringing EU regulation closer to that of other global trading partners
The agreement on the Council's negotiating mandate allows its presidency to start negotiations with the European Parliament on the final text of the regulation
SAN DIEGO, March 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cibus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBUS) (the “Company”), a leading agricultural technology company that develops and licenses plant traits to seed companies, welcomes significant progress in the regulation of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) in the European Union (EU).
On Friday 14th March, EU member states endorsed the EU Council's (the “Council”) negotiating mandate on the regulation of plants obtained by NGTs. This important advancement enables the Council to engage in 3-way discussions (known as trilogue discussions) with the EU Parliament and the European Commission to agree the final text of the legislation prior to final adoption.
The legislation is part of a package of measures designed to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources and to strengthen the resilience of EU food systems. It describes a category of NGTs, that include products of gene editing that could be obtained in nature or by conventional breeding. These plants would be determined to be ‘conventional-like’ and once verified as NGT-1, would be exempted from the rules under the EU’s GMO legislation and would not be required to be labelled.
In addition to enabling EU growers to benefit from improved varieties, the proposed regulation would help facilitate international trade by bringing EU policy closer to that of trading partners in North and South America, the United Kingdom, India, Australia, and Japan.
“The long-awaited Council agreement is another significant milestone in the EU legislative process that aims to provide a welcome boost to innovators, particularly in academia and small and mid-sized enterprises, who are developing NGT products that can contribute to a sustainable EU agri-food system,” commented Tony Moran, Senior Vice President of International Development and Government Affairs at Cibus.
“Cibus’ RTDS® technologies produce improved crop varieties that are ‘conventional-like’ under the EU proposal. Our specific work on rapeseed customer genetics, targets reduced seed loss, increased disease resistance and enhanced nutrient use efficiency,” stated Dr. Peter Beetham, Cibus’ Interim CEO, President and COO. “We’re excited by the prospect of being able to develop these varieties under European conditions and to work with European seed companies to make our traits available to European farmers. A supportive EU regulatory framework for NGTs would have global implications as improved seed genetics using gene editing will have a clearer path to commercialization and international trade.”
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
