22nd Century Extends KeyGene Partnership
22nd Century Group will extend and expand its plant research partnership agreement with KeyGene, a global leader in plant research involving high-value genetic traits and increased crop yields. The new partnership agreement extends the length of the collaboration to develop new, disruptive hemp/cannabis plants and intellectual property for the life science, medicinal and pharmaceutical end-use markets.
It also expands the partnership to include research and development activity for noncombustible, alternative tobacco plant applications, such as protein production, and 22nd Century’s third plant franchise, plus it establishes a new governance structure and working model to accelerate development timelines across all three crop/trait programs.
“We have a highly successful relationship with KeyGene, and we are excited to announce this expansion of our partnership that we have been referring to recently,” said James A. Mish, CEO of 22nd Century Group, in a statement.
“Our KeyGene partnership has proven to be crucial for 22nd Century’s growth and success in the hemp/cannabis space. Since launching our collaboration in 2019, we have achieved much together, including a breakthrough in molecular breeding that will significantly reduce the time needed to develop new hemp/cannabis plant lines with commercially valuable traits.”
We have worked together to make game-changing discoveries in hemp/cannabis genetic research.
“Our partnership with 22nd Century Group has been mutually beneficial, as we have worked together to make game-changing discoveries in hemp/cannabis genetic research,” said Walter Nelson, CEO of KeyGene USA.
“This expanded partnership fits well into KeyGene’s push into integrating metabolomics and proteomics with our capabilities in genomics using innovative informatics tools. I am excited to build on this successful relationship and look forward to what we will be able to accomplish in other crops using our technology innovation platforms.”
