Benzinga | Dec 22, 2020 07:33AM EST

Origin Agritech Comments On Recent Regulatory Developments In China And Updates Shareholders On Its Pipeline Of Traits; Highlights Recent CCP Comments Indicating Leaders Will 'industrialize biotech breeding as a part of a campaign to improve food security

BEIJING, Dec. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Origin Agritech Ltd. (NASDAQ:SEED) (the "Company" or "Origin"), an agriculture technology company, today is updating shareholders on recent developments out of China regarding the path to GMO commercialization in the country and also on the status of the approval process for its different seed traits.

Last Friday, December 18th, in an historic statement out of the Central Economic Work Conference, an annual gathering of top leaders and policymakers that plot the country's economic course for the following year, top CCP leaders said that they will industrialize biotech breeding as a part of a campaign to improve food security. Origin Agritech commends the government on this move toward GMO positive and stands by ready, as one of the top GMO seed companies in China, to rise to the challenge of supplying farmers with outstanding GMO corn and soybean seeds to facilitate this huge transformation of agriculture in China. These GMO seeds were developed with different traits to increase yields, reduce the need for insecticides, increase herbicide tolerance, salinity tolerance and to make the plants drought tolerant.

The following is a list of Origin Agritech's various corn and soybean traits and where they stand in the approval process:

2 GMO Phytase Corn. The world's first GMO output trait received a Bio-safety Certificate in 1999. Six GMO Phytase elite commercial corn hybrids have completed production trials and are waiting for variety approval.

4 An herbicide tolerance corn. Status: Waiting for approval of Bio-safety Certificate; more than 20 elite commercial hybrids with GT traits in the production trials.

6 A double stack of insect resistance and herbicide tolerance corn--First Generation. Status: Waiting for the approval of Bio-safety Certificate; more than 20 elite commercial hybrids with Bt/Gt traits in the production trials.

8 A double stack of insect resistance and herbicide tolerance corn--Second Generation. Status: in the middle test.

10 An herbicide tolerance soybean. Status: Approaching middle test.

12 A salinity tolerance and drought tolerance and water-saving soybean. Status: Approaching middle test.

"Origin Agritech is nearing the end of an epic journey preparing for the commercialization of GMO seeds in China, one which spanned many years, cost tens of millions of dollars and had contributions from many brilliant scientists," said Dr. Gengchen Han, Origin's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We now are positioned as one of only several companies that has the potential to capitalize on this multi-billion-dollar market opportunity, and we look forward to improving food security for the country in the process."