Metabolix Announces New Strategic Direction: Yield10 Bioscience to Become Core Business, Biopolymers Operations to be Wound Down
"With this realignment and focus around Yield10 and its exciting crop science technologies, we are starting a new chapter for the Company which we hope will create significant value as we work to develop and commercialize innovative approaches to step-change yield improvements for important food and feed crops like canola, soybean and corn," said
The Company is actively engaged in efforts to secure additional capital resources over the next several weeks to support the implementation of its new Yield10-focused strategy. All forms of financing may be considered, including public and private equity financing, secured or unsecured debt financing, equity or debt bridge financing, as well as licensing or other collaborative arrangements. In addition, the Company is holding its biopolymer assets for sale and may sell or license all or portions of its biopolymer inventory, equipment and intellectual property in connection with its ongoing financing efforts and the implementation of its new strategy. There can be no assurance that these efforts will be successful. If the Company is not able to secure such additional capital resources or otherwise fund its operations, it will be forced to wind down its remaining operations, including the Yield10 program, and pursue options for liquidating the Company's remaining assets, including intellectual property and equipment.
Yield10 Bioscience: An Exciting Innovation Platform for Better Crop Yield
Experts forecast that food production must be increased by over 70% in the next 35 years to feed the growing global population which is expected to increase from 7 billion to 9.6 billion by 2050. This is an already daunting challenge that may be even more difficult to achieve due to global climate change and its potential impact on regional growing conditions throughout the world.
Yield10 is leveraging Metabolix's extensive track record of innovation based around optimizing the flow of carbon intermediates in living systems. In plants, Yield10 is working on new approaches to improve fundamental elements of plant metabolism to deliver step-change increases in crop yield through enhanced photosynthetic efficiency and directed carbon utilization.
The Company believes that Yield10 technologies are broadly applicable to food and feed crops. In the near term, Yield10 is focusing its efforts on canola, soybean and corn—working independently and seeking agricultural industry partners to validate and commercialize new traits and identify gene editing targets in these key crops.
Yield10 is based on two proprietary technology platforms developed by
"We launched Yield10 in
For more information, please visit www.metabolix.com. (MBLX-G)
For more information on Yield10 Bioscience, please visit Yield10.
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 statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding
the planned restructuring, wind-down of the biopolymer operations and sale or liquidation of assets, expected future staffing and cash usage, plans for obtaining additional cash resources, expectations regarding the progress of Yield10, and plans for future agricultural industry collaborations, 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
Metabolix Contact:Source:Lynne H. Brum , 617-682-4693, LBrum@metabolix.com
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