Origin, Arcadia announce China biotechnology collaboration in corn

Origin (Origin Agritech, LLC), an agricultural biotechnology trait and seed provider, and Arcadia (Arcadia Biosciences, Inc.), a California-based company that develops and commercializes agricultural productivity traits and nutritional products, today announced their collaboration to achieve the first-ever export of a key corn biotechnology product developed in China to the United States for completion of global regulatory trials.

The successful movement of this corn seed, containing an insect resistance/herbicide tolerance trait discovered and developed in China, to the Arcadia greenhouse represents a key milestone in Origin’s strategic business plan to achieve global regulatory approvals for cultivation and international grain movement.

“This first-of-its-kind export validates Origin’s leading position in China biotech and its close alignment with Chinese ministries leading the transformation of the domestic seed industry. Combining Origin’s robust pipeline of value-added Chinese traits and elite corn germplasm with Arcadia’s research and development infrastructure demonstrates our plan to capture a sizeable piece of China’s estimated billion-dollar corn seed trait market,” said Bill Niebur, Origin chief executive officer.

“As a leader in agtech focused on modernizing the traditional corn seed market, our international team remains focused on accelerating research and development to improve the lives of Chinese farmers.”

Arcadia and Origin signed an agreement under which Arcadia will assist Origin in developing information for submission to regulatory authorities in the U.S., China and other countries for the approval of their traits in corn. This project involves production of inbred and hybrid seed lines under quarantine conditions in Arcadia greenhouses.

“Arcadia has the proven expertise to bring traits through the regulatory process successfully and efficiently,” said Raj Ketkar, Arcadia’s president and CEO. “We have conducted hundreds of studies in the laboratory, greenhouse and field to gain regulatory approvals for various traits in major crops, and we have a strong regulatory team that has developed complete regulatory dossiers in multiple countries. This collaboration with Origin is an example of how our partners can leverage these capabilities to accelerate the commercialization of novel ag biotech traits.”

“Ultimately, this milestone achievement will create more choices and opportunities for farmers,” said Jihong Liang, Origin chief technology officer. “This is an important achievement, showcasing Origin’s competitive advantage in science and global reach through collaborations inside China and beyond its borders. Origin is leading the way in gaining regulatory approvals for this critical advanced technology globally to drive future business growth.”

Origin’s investment and focus aligns tightly with China’s 13th Five Year Plan, which calls for the modernization of agriculture as the foundation for building a prosperous society. The Chinese government, including the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), has advanced a policy vision to facilitate seed industry innovation, improve the competitiveness of the Chinese ag tech industry and cultivate new seed varieties for farmers around the world. Through these actions, China has shown strong commitment to advancing its ag industry through new advances in biotechnology. Origin anticipates China commercialization of corn biotechnology at the end of this decade.