ROSEVILLE, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Calyxt, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLXT), a plant-based technology company, announced today that it has contracted to sell all 2020 grain production of its high oleic soybean to ADM (NYSE: ADM), a global leader in human and animal nutrition and the world’s premier agricultural origination and processing company headquartered in Chicago. The transaction is a key step in Calyxt’s 2020 transition to an advanced go-to-market strategy focused on providing plant-based innovations. Sales began in Q3 2020 and will continue through late 2021.
Calyxt’s high oleic soybean was launched in 2019 as the first commercially approved gene-edited food in the United States. ADM has contracted to purchase all of Calyxt’s high oleic soybean grain, following an initial purchase earlier in the year. The total purchases represent approximately four million bushels of high oleic soybean grain. ADM is responsible to crush the grain and will market and sell the resulting oil and meal.
“This agreement with ADM is yet another key milestone in monetizing our proprietary gene-editing technology and bringing our innovations to market,” said Jim Blome, CEO of Calyxt. “This is an important step in the advancement of our strategy and frees resources and capital within Calyxt, allowing our talented team to focus on growing the business through licensing our proprietary technology, pursuing product development partnerships and seed sale arrangements.”
“Our five new high oleic seed varieties introduced in 2020 underscores the progress we’ve made in expanding our offerings,” said Vince Restucci, vice president of agronomy services. “Our high oleic soybean seed and grain products are well positioned to address the increase in market and consumer demand for premium vegetable oil.”
“At ADM, we’re continually looking for ways to create more value for customers, and that’s exactly what we’re doing by extending our high-oleic soybean oil offerings with this new agreement with Calyxt,” said Charlie Morris, director of customer portfolio management. “We’re seeing more and more customers asking for high-oleic products, and we’re committed to leading in this value-added space. We appreciate the great relationship with Calyxt, and we’re excited to expand our portfolio to meet the growing demand of our food customers.”
About ADM
At ADM, we unlock the power of nature to provide access to nutrition worldwide. With industry-advancing innovations, a complete portfolio of ingredients and solutions to meet any taste, and a commitment to sustainability, we give customers an edge in solving the nutritional challenges of today and tomorrow. We’re a global leader in human and animal nutrition and the world’s premier agricultural origination and processing company. Our breadth, depth, insights, facilities and logistical expertise give us unparalleled capabilities to meet needs for food, beverages, health and wellness, and more. From the seed of the idea to the outcome of the solution, we enrich the quality of life the world over. Learn more at www.adm.com.
About Calyxt
Calyxt (NASDAQ: CLXT), based in Roseville, Minnesota, is a technology company with a mission to deliver plant-based innovations for a better world. Founded in 2010, Calyxt uses its proprietary TALEN® gene editing technology to work with world-class partners via technology licensing, product development, and seed sale arrangements to revolutionize the way the world uses plants to solve problems. For further information, please visit our website at www.calyxt.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
We have made these forward-looking statements in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of the 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,” “targets,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “projects,” “should,” “will,” or the negative of these terms and other similar terminology. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements about the potential impact of the COVID-19 impact on our business and operating results; our future financial performance; product pipeline and development; our business model and strategies for commercialization and sales of commercial products; regulatory progression; potential collaborations, partnerships and licensing arrangements and their contribution to our financial results, cash usage, and growth strategies; and anticipated trends in our business. These and other forward-looking statements are predictions and projections about future events and trends based on our current expectations, objectives and intentions and premised on current assumptions. Our 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: the severity and duration of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting impact on macro-economic conditions; the impact of increased competition; disruptions at our key facilities; changes in customer preferences and market acceptance of our products; competition for collaboration partners and licensees and the successful execution of collaborations and licensing agreements; the impact of adverse events during development, including unsuccessful field trials or disruptions in seed production; the impact of improper handling of our product candidates by unaffiliated third parties during development, such as the improper aerial spraying of our high fiber wheat product candidate; failures by third-party contractors; inaccurate demand forecasting; the effectiveness of commercialization efforts by commercial partners or licensees; our ability to make grain sales on terms acceptable to us; the timing of our grain sales; our ability to collect accounts receivable; disruptions to supply chains, including transportation and storage functions; commodity price conditions; the impact of changes or increases in oversight and regulation; disputes or challenges regarding intellectual property; proliferation and continuous evolution of new technologies; management changes; dislocations in the capital markets; and other important factors discussed under the caption entitled “Risk Factors” in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, which was filed with the SEC on March 5, 2020 (our Annual Report) and our subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q (including under the caption entitled “Risk Factors” in Part II, Item 1A of this Quarterly Report) and 8-K.