Establishment of its Genetics Centre of Excellence (Genie)

Certification services to provide cultivators with guaranteed genetic identity of starter materials

Pathogen testing will help cultivators work towards economic optimization of facility operations

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – September 2, 2020) – 3 Rivers Biotech Ltd. (“3 Rivers” or the “Company”) today announced that the Company has commenced the establishment of its Genetic Centre of Excellence (Genie), a project that, when completed in early 2021, will provide genetic certification services of cultivars to its clients and third parties.

The first Genie lab will be established in British Colombia, Canada, while future facilities will be established in the United States, where the Company operates a tissue culture facility in Washington State.

Simon James, VP of Business Development stated, “Many cultivars on the market today are genetically very different from the cultivar they are marketed as. Furthermore, the inherent pathogen-load produced by traditional cloning practices can have a significant negative impact on facility yields and product quality. For horticultural operations, genetic consistency is therefore incredibly important for the optimization of economic returns. Our new service will offer genetic certification and pathogen testing, which will provide operators with the certainty that their starter materials are as advertised, providing them with the peace of mind that their crops will perform as expected.”

3 Rivers is one of very few companies able to provide tissue culture propagation successfully and consistently and at commercial scale to hemp and other industries. Tissue culture propagation enables improved facility economics through higher yields and enhanced quality profiles by providing plants that are pathogen-free, making them more vigorous and robust.

Dr. Kevin Mehr, VP of Sales and Marketing for 3 Rivers, added, “Though all our products are grown under aseptic conditions and inherently disease-free, our new lab will utilize DNA Identification to certify to our customers that all our products are free from Hops Latent Viroid, Fusarium, and other prominent pathogens. Beyond this important certification of our own products, we are able to help cultivators assess pathogen loads in their starter materials or mother plants, and potentially help with mother regeneration or a full switch to tissue cultured starting materials. Providing tissue cultured clones at scale that are certified as to their genetics and being free of the major pathogens that impact our industry, gives 3 Rivers a unique offering that we anticipate will be in high demand.”

About 3 Rivers

3 Rivers Biotech is a plant biotechnology company specializing in hemp tissue culture to provide premium pathogen-free, pesticide-free, vigorous plants to cultivators and late-stage nurseries across the United States and Internationally. We eliminate the risks and variables of commercial cultivation by providing our customers with stable genetics and vigorous, disease-free clones. Our experienced team, with over 50 million plants supplied and counting, has been focused on perfecting plant propagation for decades. Our partnership with JRT Nurseries and its large-scale Mount Vernon tissue culture facility provides us with the ability to scale and ship plants globally. This facility is one of the largest and most reputable plant tissue culture nurseries in North America, capable of producing over 12+ million hemp plants annually. We are not breeders but work with industry-leading breeders to provide our partners with elite genetics across the entire horticultural industry.

www.3riversbiotech.com

Forward Looking Information

This press release includes “forward-looking statements”, including forecasts, estimates, expectations and objectives for future operations that are subject to several assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of 3 Rivers. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking information represents management’s best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual future results may vary materially.

For more information

Dr. Kevin Mehr
360-232-4383
[email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/63091