Kingston, Ontario, Canada
September 11, 2007
Canada’s leading agricultural
biotechnology company,
Performance Plants
Inc. (PPI), marked the opening of its new multi-million
dollar laboratory and corporate office in Kingston, Ontario
today by announcing that it has secured Canadian and US patent
protection for its proprietary crop drought protection -- Yield
Protection Technology™ (YPT™). These patents combined with
others, effectively provide the company global intellectual
property protection for YPT™.
“Biotechnology is the best solution to some very large human
problems such as water shortages, climate change and increased
population,” said Dr. David Dennis, President and Chief
Executive Officer. “What we are doing at our new laboratory
facilities in Kingston and at our lab in Saskatoon will put
Canada and Performance Plants in the forefront of developing a
secure food supply for the world.”
The move from its founding space at Queen’s University was much
needed according to PPI Chief Operating Officer, Peter
Matthewman. “We’re delighted that we were able to find here in
Kingston the facility we need to support our growth globally.
This new lab and corporate headquarters gives us the foundation
we require to grow our agri-technology business in the
international market. The Canadian and US patent protection we
are announcing today is an indication of the extraordinary
potential for our technology in the world’s most significant
agricultural markets.”
YPT™ works by genetically enabling plants such as canola, corn
and soybeans to turn off and on their own, naturally built-in,
defences against drought at much earlier stages. As a result,
YPT™ enables plants to increase yield by 15% - 25%, depending on
the plant species. This is dramatically greater yield
enhancement than any competing biotechnology currently
available.
YPT™ enhances solely innate genes within not just each plant
species but within each separate variety in each species. It
works, in addition to standard genetic “on/off switches,” to
enable the plant in drought conditions to close the stomata by
which it loses life-sustaining moisture.
For dryland farming areas such as the Canadian and US mid-west,
parts of Europe, Australia and Africa, inconsistent water supply
has a devastating impact on food crops and food supply. Drought
kills crops. But YPT™ resists drought because YPT™- enabled
crops keep water longer, boosting yield and substantively
reducing irrigation cost. With YPT™-enhanced seeds, farmers will
be able to grow much more on their existing acreage with less
water use and the accompanying cost. YPT™ also works perfectly
in combination with other prevailing genetic enhancements in
crops such as herbicide and pest resistance.
PPI licenses its breakthrough gene technology to several of the
world’s leading seed and agri-companies, which, combined,
control almost half of North America’s seed market. Today that
market is worth $5 billion annually and grows at about 15% a
year. YPT™ enhanced crops will be in farmer’s fields beginning
in 2011.
According to Jeff Garrah, Chief Executive Officer of KEDCO,
expanding the city’s knowledge-based economy is a key strategic
goal for the agency. “We applaud the accomplishments of
Performance Plants. It is a sterling example of successful
commercialization of technology that originated in our own
backyard,” said Garrah.
YPT™ is the first of a wave of related, combinable (or
‘stackable’), genetic crop enhancements from Performance Plants.
The company is in the process of acquiring patent protection
for:
- Water Efficient Technology
(WET), which improves by as much as 25% the efficacy with
which plants utilize available water.
- Heat Stress Technology
(HEAT) that stabilizes yield under high heat conditions
(corn and soybeans, for example, lose as much as 15% yield
for every degree Celsius over 30° during the critical
flowering stage)
The same technologies and
Performance Plants’ proprietary Bio-mass Enhancing Technology
(BET™) have revolutionary implications for bio-fuels production.
The company is currently exploring potential partnerships in the
North American bio-fuels market.
Performance Plants also has a research facility at Saskatoon’s
Innovation Place. |
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