For Immediate Release
San Diego (September 16, 2013) — Cibus, a pioneering plant trait development firm, announced today that Keith Walker, PhD, has been appointed as CEO and President. Dr. Walker has held the position of President since the company was founded in 2001. The announcement comes at a time where the company is poised for rapid growth.
“Keith’s visionary leadership has been essential in the growth and success of Cibus, and we are confident that as CEO and President he will be able to deftly guide Cibus as the company moves into the next phase of development,” said John Studebaker, Chairman, Board of Directors for Cibus. “In the past 12 years, Keith has provided the necessary foresight and industry expertise to expand the Cibus technology portfolio into a suite of patented trait tools, and the company looks forward to commercialization of its first trait in 2014.”
Dr. Walker's more than 40 years in agricultural biotechnology spans the development of the field. Along with a group of key investors, he founded Cibus in November 2001 with a team of visionary scientists and agricultural biotechnology experts from ValiGen’s Plant and Industrial Products Division, and since then has led Cibus in significantly expanding its San Diego research facility. The technology firm opened offices in Minnesota in 2007 and the Netherlands in 2009, and now employs nearly 100 people globally.
Prior to Cibus, Dr. Walker held a variety of management positions at the Mycogen Corporation, ranging from business development, biotechnology research management and technology in-and-out-licensing. He also worked at Agrigenetics Company prior to its acquisition by Mycogen, and was a co-founder, director and vice president of research at the agbiotech company Plant Genetics, Inc. (PGI). Before founding PGI, Dr. Walker served in a variety of research roles with Monsanto Co. and was a former vice chairman (1985) and chairman (1987) of the Gordon Conference in Plant Cell and Tissue Culture. He also was associate editor of Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture. Dr. Walker received his PhD in biology from Yale University and is a graduate of the College of Wooster.
Cibus’ technologies, including Rapid Trait Development System™ (RTDS®), use the basic processes of nature to develop desirable characteristics in plants. This patented portfolio of technologies can accelerate the development of new crop varieties with a range of beneficial features including improved quality, higher yields and a reduced reliance on chemicals. The breadth of Cibus’ technology is wide-ranging for its trait development possibilities. Over the past 12 years, Cibus has forged partnerships with leading agricultural companies working in eight different crops developing 12 unique and differentiated value added plant traits using its suite of core technologies including RTDS.
Cibus has shown remarkable persistence and dedication in its quest to help ensure that the world continues to have ways of feeding its growing population safely and sustainably in the decades ahead.
Cibus® is a leading agricultural technology company that develops, and licenses gene edited plant traits to seed companies. Its traits enable farmers to manage productivity and sustainability challenges such as diseases, pests, weeds, fertilizer use and climate change. Cibus' goal is to use its trait technology to create a new generation of crops that are more adaptable to their environment and have increased yields while requiring less chemicals. Cibus' patented RTDS® technology platform has enabled agriculture's first standardized end-to-end gene editing trait prototype and production system: the Trait Machine™. The Trait Machine represents a technological breakthrough in plant breeding that broadens the range and scale of possible trait solutions that makes more diverse germplasm accessible, materially shortens trait breeding timelines, and shortens the time to market traits. Cibus' technologies and traits are accelerating agriculture's jump to a climate smart, more sustainable crop production system and the industry's move to sustainable lowcarbon ingredients.