Vision obtains global license for Yield10’s herbicide-tolerant camelina to produce biofuel feedstock

Photo: Yield10 Bioscience Inc.

Yield10 Bioscience Inc. announced Feb. 14 that it has granted a global license to certain proprietary varieties of camelina to Vision Bioenergy Oilseeds LLC for the production of feedstock oils for biofuels.

By facilitating the large-scale commercial production of herbicide-tolerant camelina, this license agreement is intended to empower farmers to capitalize on the growing biofuel market while advancing the decarbonization goals of aviation, maritime and heavy-duty transport industries.

Commercial production of camelina is currently ramping up in North America as a source of ultra-low carbon feedstock oil for the biofuel industry.

In consideration for the license and completion of certain deliverables, Vision will make cash payments to Yield10 totaling $3 million.  

Yield10 will supply Vision with certain spring and winter camelina varieties including varieties exhibiting herbicide tolerance to spray application of broadleaf herbicide glufosinate and tolerance to soil residual Group 2 herbicides.

Under the license, Vision will have a three-year period of exclusivity to commercialize the licensed traits and varieties for use in biofuels.

Once that period elapses, the license granted to Vision will convert to nonexclusive status worldwide.

Yield10 retains the right to sublicense these camelina traits and varieties, as well as to continue to utilize and develop these camelina varieties to produce omega-3 oil and other camelina oil and meal products.

Yield10 is a leader in the development of elite camelina, including herbicide-tolerant varieties.

In November, USDA-APHIS determined that Yield10’s glufosinate-tolerant camelina as well as its stacked herbicide-tolerant camelina may be planted and bred in the United States in response to two requests for regulatory status review packages submitted by Yield10.

An application to add camelina to a glufosinate label is pending with U.S. EPA.

“Yield10 has done outstanding work developing leading herbicide technology in camelina, and acquiring these rights and access to seed will enable us to accelerate our commercial activities,” said Don Panter, CEO of Vision. “Herbicide tolerance is critical to enable a ramp up in commercial production of camelina. With this license, we’ll be able to significantly expand our contract production of camelina suited for use as a cover crop or in rotation with other commercial crops. In 2024, we plan to sample this herbicide-tolerance system with some of our key camelina growers, while simultaneously building planting-seed supply to support a potential commercial launch in 2025.”

Oliver Peoples, CEO of Yield10, added, “We believe that Vision is well positioned to support ramp up of commercial acres of camelina and delivery of feedstock oil to their energy partner for biofuels. With this license in place to our partner Vision providing a path to scale and market our camelina technology in biofuels, we believe this is the best way to enable the value chain for camelina as a valuable crop at very large scale. As the scale of production grows, we believe the value of our advanced trait technologies can be accessed through future partnership or licensing agreements. We plan to intensify our commercial focus on the development of engineered camelina as a platform for producing and commercializing omega-3 oils building on our recent successful scale up of the omega-3 camelina line EPA8 in Chile, for use of the omega-3 oils in aquaculture, animal feed and human nutrition.”