Cibus and Crystal Crop Protection Team Up to Improve India’s Mustard Crop

Collaboration pairs Cibus’ platform for improving a plant’s own genes with Crystal Crop’s mustard varieties and its reach across India, with the goal of putting better-performing seed in growers’ hands in a fraction of the time of conventional breeding

SAN DIEGO and NEW DELHI, Sept. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crystal Crop Protection Limited (“Crystal Crop”), an Indian crop solutions company, and Cibus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBUS) a technology company that uses biology to produce sustainable ingredients and helps farmers grow more food with fewer inputs, today announced an agreement to develop gene-edited traits in Brassica juncea (“Mustard”). Mustard is the oilseed at the heart of Indian cooking, and India grows more of it than any other country, on roughly 8.5 million hectares (21 million acres). Even so, India imports more than half of the edible oil it consumes, roughly 17 million tonnes a year, most of it palm and soybean oil. A better-performing mustard crop could mean more income for the grower and more of India’s cooking oil grown at home.

Cibus helps make good crops better, changing the speed and scale of plant breeding. Its platform makes precise changes to a plant’s own genes, with no foreign DNA added, and can deliver improved varieties in a fraction of the time of conventional breeding. Under the agreement, Crystal Crop will collaborate with Cibus to develop gene-edited traits in Brassica juncea and evaluate and commercialize such traits under an exclusive license in India. Crystal Crop brings its mustard production program, its knowledge of India’s seed market, and a network of more than 14,823 independent distribution partners across 23 states and four union territories across India, as of March 31, 2026, so improved seed can reach farmers at scale.

“Mustard matters to India the way few crops matter to any country. Improving it has real consequences for farmers and for the country’s food supply,” said Peter Beetham, Ph.D., a plant scientist who co-founded Cibus and serves as its President and Chief Operating Officer. “We have spent 25 years learning how to make precise improvements to a plant’s own genes, and we do it in a fraction of the time and cost of conventional breeding. Crystal Crop knows the Indian farmer and the Indian mustard market. Together we can put better seed in growers’ hands.”

The work answers a stated national priority. India’s National Mission on Edible Oils - Oilseeds, launched in 2024, aims to raise the country’s oilseed harvest from about 39 million tonnes (in 2022-23) to roughly 70 million tonnes by 2030-31 and names genome editing among the technologies it will use to get there. Indian mustard yields average 1,200 to 1,400 kilograms per hectare, against 1,800 to 2,000 in the leading producing countries, and breeders have struggled for decades to close that gap with conventional methods.

India has also drawn the line that gives this work a clear path to the field. In 2022, India’s environment ministry determined that crops improved through edits to their own genes, with no foreign DNA introduced, fall outside its rules for genetically modified organisms.

“Crystal Crop is customized for Indian farmers through research and development including by collaborations with various multi-national companies, delivering relevant solutions that aim to enhance farm economics, yield, productivity and profitability,” said Ankur Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of Crystal Crop. “Pairing our mustard variety and our reach across India with Cibus’ platform technologies, we strive to offer growers a mustard that returns more from every acre. This is supposed to be a practical gain for farmers and for India’s oilseed economy.”

This agreement extends Cibus’ work in India and demonstrates how Cibus partners with regional seed and crop companies to bring improved crops to the farmers who need them.

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, with no foreign DNA added, 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.

About Crystal Crop Protection Limited

Crystal Crop Protection Limited, incorporated in 1994, is an Indian crop solutions company with agrochemicals and seeds at the core of its offerings. It operates on a fully integrated model, that integrates robust synthesis research and development in crop protection products and natural crop solutions as well as robust seeds breeding program, with backward-integrated technology enabled manufacturing and pan-India distribution, with a farmer-centric approach. In May 2026, Crystal Crop entered into agreements for the proposed acquisition of FMC Corporation’s India crop protection business i.e. FMC India Private Limited. For more information, visit www.crystalcropprotection.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’ market opportunities, Cibus’ liquidity and capital resources, the implementation and execution of cost savings initiatives, Cibus’ strategy, future operations, prospects, and plans, including the anticipated integration into partner pipelines, implementation of commercial agreements, receipt of commercial revenues and additional funding and the achievement of commercial milestone targets, are forward-looking statements. Cibus’ assessment of the period of time through which its financial resources will be adequate to support its operations is a forward-looking statement. Because this involves such risks and uncertainties, the Company could use its available capital resources sooner than it currently expects. 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 or to effectively negotiate commercial agreements; 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.

CRYSTAL CROP PROTECTION LIMITED is proposing, subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, receipt of requisite approvals, market conditions and other considerations, to undertake an initial public offer of its Equity Shares and has filed the draft red herring prospectus dated December 17, 2025 (“DRHP”) with SEBI and the Stock Exchanges. The DRHP is available on the website of SEBI at www.sebi.gov.in, on the websites of the Stock Exchanges i.e., BSE at www.bseindia.com, NSE at www.nseindia.com, on the websites of the BRLMs, i.e. IIFL Capital Services Limited (formerly known as IIFL Securities Limited) at www.iiflcapital.com, DAM Capital Advisors Limited at www.damcapital.in and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Limited at www.motilaloswal.com and the website of our Company at www.crystalcropprotection.com, respectively. Potential investors should note that investment in equity shares involves a high degree of risk and for details relating to such risk, see the section titled “Risk Factors” on page 41 of the DRHP and the details set out in the red herring prospectus (“RHP”), when filed. Potential investors should not rely on the DRHP for making any investment decision and should rely on the RHP, when filed, for making an investment decision.

This announcement does not constitute an invitation or offer of securities for sale in any jurisdiction, including India. This announcement has been prepared for publication in India only and is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States. The Equity Shares offered in the Offer have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (“U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws in the United States, and unless so registered, may not be offered or sold within the United States, except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and in accordance with any applicable U.S. state securities laws. Accordingly, the Equity Shares are being offered and sold outside the United States in 'offshore transactions' as defined in, and in reliance on Regulation S, and the applicable laws of the jurisdictions where such offers and sales are made. There will be no public offering of the Equity Shares in the United States.

CIBUS CONTACTS

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

Media Relations:
Colin Sanford, colin@bioscribe.com, 203-918-4347