Cibus Global, Ltd., a cutting-edge technology firm and leader in the area of gene editing, has acquired the remaining interest in Nucelis Inc. The announcement was made by Cibus CEO and president Keith Walker. Nucelis, which had been established as an independent entity in December 2010, will now become an independent operating unit of Cibus, which employs approximately 100 people worldwide, and also includes Cibus U.S., LL C and Cibus Europe B.V.
Nucelis CEO and president Sean O’Connor will continue to lead the Nucelis operating unit as its CEO and will join the Cibus executive management team as a senior vice president of Cibus. Nucelis will continue to be the exclusive licensee to Cibus’ Rapid Trait Development System (RTDS) technology in its key product areas of fermentation and bio-based chemicals.
“Cibus’ acquisition of the outstanding equity in Nucelis consolidates the innovative capabilities of the RTDS technology under a single entity,” Walker said. “This synergy will enable greater opportunities to develop novel traits and products for a broader range of applications. The R TDS technology has achieved significant advancements, and the company is now poised to make meaningful progress with agricultural, biomedical and industrial traits.”
“The merger will allow us to accelerate commercialization from our product platforms using R TDS technology, which will flourish in a global community concerned about sustainability.”
Cibus was founded with the vision of developing precision gene editing systems, led by its non-transgenic R TDS technology. This technology fulfills the promise of beneficial change in the development of agricultural, biomedical and industrial traits. Cibus U.S. LL C will be launching its first product, Sulphonylurea tolerant (SU) canola, in 2014. Cibus is privately held by a committed group of investors who have enabled the development and protection of the Cibus technology.