Calyxt Successfully Produces Plant-Based Squalene, an Important Ingredient in Personal Care Products and Critical Vaccine Adjuvants

ROSEVILLE, Minn., Oct. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Calyxt, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLXT), a plant-based synthetic biology company, announced today that using a Calyxt-engineered Plant Cell Matrix™ biomass, it has successfully produced squalene, an important ingredient in many personal care products and vaccine adjuvants, including several strands of flu and COVID-19 vaccines.

Leveraging the power of its PlantSpring™ technology platform, Calyxt's plant-based squalene is a natural alternative to animal-based squalene. This achievement marks the successful development of a more sustainable squalene option for Calyxt's target customers and key end markets. Traditionally sourced from shark liver oil, companies across several industries, including cosmeceuticals and pharmaceuticals, have already begun to seek out alternative squalene sources for use in their products as a more sustainable path forward.

For example, in the cosmeceutical industry, squalene is an important ingredient, known to contain anti-aging properties, that is often used in topical skin care products. In pharmaceuticals, with its known abilities to boost immune system responses, squalene has become a key ingredient in vaccine adjuvants across the globe. Calyxt is working with its infrastructure partner, Evologic Technologies, to optimize speed to achieve commercial-scale production of its plant-based squalene.

"The successful production of squalene is a major success in advancing our technology platform as well as developing plant-based synthetic biology solutions," said Michael A. Carr, President and CEO of Calyxt. "The team has done a tremendous job in refining and optimizing our technology, and we are proud to deliver a sustainable, plant-based answer for a highly sought-after ingredient in skincare products and critical vaccine adjuvants."

About Calyxt

Calyxt (Nasdaq: CLXT) is a plant-based synthetic biology company. The Company leverages its proprietary PlantSpring™ technology platform to engineer plant metabolism to produce innovative high value plant-based chemistries for use in customers' materials and products. As plant-based solutions, the Company's synthetic biology products can be used in helping customers meet their sustainability targets and financial goals. Calyxt's diversified offerings are primarily delivered through its proprietary BioFactory™ production system. For more information, visit www.calyxt.com.

PlantSpring, BioFactory, Plant Cell Matrix™, and the Calyxt logo are trademarks of Calyxt, Inc. Any other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this communication include statements about the Company's pursuit of target customers and its efforts to optimize scale to achieve commercial scale production. These and other forward-looking statements are predictions and projections about future events and trends based on the Company's current expectations, objectives, and intentions and are premised on current assumptions. The Company's 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: the potential impact of cost reduction and other cash-focused measures to manage liquidity; increased competition, including competition from a broader array of synthetic biology companies; competition for customers, partners, and licensees and the successful execution of development and licensing agreements; disruptions at Calyxt's or Evologic's key facilities; changes in customer preferences and market acceptance of its products; changes in market consensus as to what attributes are required for a product to be considered "sustainable"; the impact of adverse events during development; inaccurate demand forecasting; disruptions to supply chains, including raw material inputs for its BioFactory; and other important factors discussed in Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors" in the Company's filings with the SEC, included in Part I, Item 1A of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, which was filed with the SEC on March 3, 2022, and its subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements made by management of the Company are based only on currently available information and speak only as of the date of this report. Except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change.

SOURCE Calyxt, Inc.