Europe Recognizes Nature-Based Plant Improvement, Opening a New Pathway for Cibus

SAN DIEGO, June 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cibus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBUS) today welcomed a landmark decision by the European Union. For the first time, crops improved without adding foreign DNA will be treated like conventionally bred crops, not like transgenic GMOs. The decision opens a path for European farmers to grow cleaner crops much more productively, including for example by fighting disease and pests with far fewer chemicals, and it validates the approach Cibus has spent nearly 25 years developing.

Cibus improves crops the way nature does, only far faster. Starting from a seed company's best existing varieties, Cibus can add several improvements at once, combining valuable traits like disease resistance, higher yields, and better quality. Cibus can also deliver a finished, traited plant in as little as about twelve months, instead of the many years conventional breeding takes. That speed lets seed companies bring stronger, cleaner crops to market on a timeline that was not possible before. A trait like disease resistance can keep large volumes of fungicide and pesticide out of the food system by helping a plant better protect itself.

European regulators are drawing a clear line. On one side, transgenic GMOs, which add foreign DNA. On the other, the precise, non-transgenic improvements Cibus makes to a plant's own genes. The new rules also reward exactly the kind of traits Cibus develops. Crops that resist disease, use water and nutrients more efficiently, and need fewer chemicals qualify for the framework's non-GMO fast lane, where they are treated the same as conventionally bred crops.

"The E.U. has completed a rigorous, multi-year, science-based review and reached the right conclusion," said Peter Beetham, Ph.D., President and Chief Operating Officer of Cibus and a plant scientist who has worked on this question for decades. "It recognizes a simple scientific truth: crops with changes that could also occur in nature or through traditional breeding should be regulated accordingly."

"This framework opens one of the world's most important agricultural markets to the next generation of plant breeding," said Craig Wichner, Chief Executive Officer of Cibus. "Seed companies that want to bring stronger, cleaner, multi-trait crops to market now have an open door, and a partner that can combine the improvements they need into their own best varieties at a fraction of the time and cost of conventional breeding."

Many countries look to Europe when they set their own crop and seed rules, so Cibus expects today's decision to encourage similar changes elsewhere. That builds on progress already underway in markets like the United Kingdom, where Cibus has completed field trials of its pod shatter reduction trait in winter oilseed rape.

How Cibus does it. Cibus starts with a seed company's best existing varieties and makes precise improvements, often several at once, to a single cell from those varieties. It then grows that cell into a full plant carrying the new traits. The seed company keeps the variety it spent years perfecting; Cibus adds the improvements and licenses them back. Cibus' changes are precise edits to the plant's own genes, with no foreign DNA added, which is what separates them from transgenic GMOs. Cibus traits like disease resistance, and pod shatter reduction in canola and oilseed rape, are expected to qualify as Category 1 under the new EU rules, the tier treated the same as conventionally bred crops.

About Cibus

Cibus (NASDAQ:CBUS) is a technology company that helps farmers grow more food with fewer inputs. Using its proprietary platform, Cibus improves a seed company's best crop varieties by making precise changes to the plant's own genes, then licenses those improvements back to the customer in exchange for royalties. Cibus is not a seed company. It develops crop traits at a fraction of the time and cost of conventional breeding, with a focus on higher yields, better quality, and reduced chemical use. For more information, visit www.Cibus.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included herein, including statements regarding Cibus' operational and financial performance, Cibus' strategy, future operations, prospects, and plans, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "expect," "plan," "scheduled," "could," "would" and "will," or the negative of these and similar expressions.

These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations and assumptions of Cibus' management about future events, which are based on currently available information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond the control of Cibus. Cibus' actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements could be materially different than those expressed, implied, or anticipated by forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to: Cibus' need for additional near-term funding to finance its activities and challenges in obtaining additional capital on acceptable terms, or at all; changes in expected or existing competition; challenges to Cibus' intellectual property protection and unexpected costs associated with defending intellectual property rights; increased or unanticipated time and resources required for Cibus' platform or trait product development efforts; Cibus' reliance on third parties in connection with its development activities, including reliance on partner-funding and/or support for the advancement of its Sustainable Ingredients program; challenges associated with Cibus' ability to effectively license its productivity traits and sustainable ingredient products; the risk that farmers do not recognize the value in germplasm containing Cibus' traits or that farmers and processors fail to work effectively with crops containing Cibus' traits; delays or disruptions in the Company's platform or trait product development efforts, particularly insofar as they affect the Company's strategic priority programs; challenges that arise in respect of Cibus' production of high-quality plants and seeds cost effectively on a large scale; Cibus' dependence on distributions from Cibus Global, LLC to pay taxes and cover its corporate and overhead expenses; regulatory developments that disfavor or impose significant burdens on gene editing processes or products; Cibus' ability to achieve commercial success; commodity prices and other market risks facing the agricultural sector; technological developments that could render Cibus' technologies obsolete; changes in macroeconomic and market conditions, including inflation, supply chain constraints, and rising interest rates; dislocations in the capital markets and challenges in accessing liquidity and the impact of such liquidity challenges on Cibus' ability to execute on its business plan; the Company's assessment of the period of time through which its financial resources will be adequate to support operations; and other important factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of Cibus' Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 17, 2026, as may be updated from time-to-time in Cibus' subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.

In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Cibus' views as of the date hereof. Cibus specifically disclaims any obligation to update such forward-looking statements in the future, except as required under applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Cibus' views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.

CIBUS CONTACTS

Investor Relations: Jeff Sonnek, jeff.sonnek@icrinc.com 

Media Relations: Colin Sanford, colin@bioscribe.com