Calyxt, Inc. announced it entered into a research collaboration with a leading global food ingredient manufacturer based in Asia to develop an improved soybean capable of producing an oil as a commercial alternative to palm oil. In addition to the potential health benefits, this soybean and its oil may address sustainability challenges associated with palm oil, such as food miles and palm oil’s impact on biodiversity.
As part of the research collaboration, Calyxt will receive cash payments in each of the two years of its term. This collaboration agreement also includes a commercial option for the global food ingredient manufacturer. If exercised by our collaboration partner and subject to negotiation of definitive terms of a commercial agreement, Calyxt estimates it has the potential to receive future aggregate payments of more than $35 million over the likely term of the commercial agreement, based on the palm oil market share of the partner, assumptions as to market pricing, and other key assumptions.
“Our research collaboration with this leading global food ingredient manufacturer is an important validation of our technology platform and marks Calyxt’s evolution to a partner-driven innovation model,” said Michael A. Carr, president and CEO of Calyxt. “This collaboration addresses our partner’s sustainability need and leverages our Company’s strong foundational research and unique understanding of plant metabolism built over the course of a decade. This is an example of our work that is squarely focused at the intersection of the innovation of natural resources and the sustainability of our planet and has the potential to positively address challenges associated with palm oil by bringing forward an important new alternative. We look forward to a productive relationship with our new collaborator.”
Calyxt will utilize its proprietary technology platform to deliver this innovation. This technology platform, based on a deep understanding of plant genomes and pathways to engineer plant metabolism, accelerates development and delivers a target faster than traditional plant-based development.
“This research and development collaboration highlights our continued evolution to a partner-driven innovation model,” said Sarah Reiter, Chief Business Officer at Calyxt. “We are excited to be able to deploy our foundational capabilities, proprietary intellectual property and unique understanding of plant metabolism to deliver novel products designed to meet our partners’ needs and enable them to achieve their sustainability goals.”
