Origin: A Step Closer to the Commercialization of Corn Seed GMO Technology

- Origin Entered More Cooperation Programs for Biotech Traits in Order to Capture Multi-Billion Dollar Biotech Corn Seed Market in China

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Origin Agritech Limited

Aug 23, 2018, 10:30 ET

BEIJING, Aug. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Origin Agritech Ltd. (NASDAQ: SEED), ("the Company" or "Origin") an agriculture technology and rural e-commerce company, today announced thatthe Company has started new cooperation programs with other seed suppliers in China to integrate the company's GMO traits with the seed varieties from other suppliers.

"This is a significant step forward for the commercialization of our GMO technologies. As more and more corn seed suppliers are realizing the value of GMO technology, they start to work with us in order to get ready to license our GMO technologies," said Dr. James Chen, Origin's Chief Executive Officer.

Origin is the leading technology provider for corn seed GMO technologies in China. According to the "Thirteenth Five Year State Science and Technology Innovative Plan" published by the Chinese government in 2016, the Chinese government set to target the commercialization of corn seed GMO technologies during the central government's Thirteenth Five-Year Plan, which ends in 2020. Additionally, the recent crackdowns of illegal GMO seeds of several high profiled corn seed providers by the Chinese government help the government to pave the way for full commercialization of the corn seed GMO technology.

Origin has prepared to be ready for the commercialization of its GMO technologies and is working with other seed suppliers to integrate its GMO traits into the seed varieties of these suppliers in order to license its technologies upon the commercialization approval from the Chinese government. China has the corn planting acreage similar to the United States and the market value for the corn seed GMO technology could reach over multi billion dollars in China.

About Origin Agritech Limited

Origin Agritech Limited, founded in 1997 and headquartered in Zhong-Guan-Cun (ZGC) Life Science Park in Beijing, is China'sleading agricultural technology and a rural social e-commerce company, expanding in mid-2018 from crop seed breeding and genetic improvement business to be a leading technology developer in new rural e-commerce platform and Blockchain technologies. In crop seed biotechnologies, Origin Agritech's phytase corn was the first transgenic corn to receive the Bio-Safety Certificate from China's Ministry of Agriculture. Over the years, Origin has established a robust biotechnology seed pipeline including products with glyphosate tolerance and pest resistance (Bt) traits. For further information, please visit the Company's website at: http://www.originseed.com.cn or http://www.originseed.com.cn/en/.

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SOURCE Origin Agritech Limited