AquaBounty charts course to market

AquaBounty Technologies has scrapped plans to use a broad equity offering to raise the money it needs to bring its genetically engineered salmon to consumers. Instead, it has reached a deal to raise funds by selling securities to synthetic biology company Intrexon, its largest shareholder.

Announced earlier this week, the deal with Intrexon will secure $25 million for AquaBounty, which the company says will allow them to keep operating for 2 years as it endeavours to bring their GM salmon to consumers.

AquaBounty said they could raise more money by selling stock to the public. But the company has since concluded that the cash needed for the legal and regulatory work required of a public stock offering made that route “impractical and costly”.

According to a media release from AquaBounty, the company is evaluating several paths to revenue generation, including production of AquAdvantage fish at their grow-out farm in Panama, as well as purchasing an existing production facility and building a new production facility - both in North America.

The company says this funding will help the startup meet exchange listing requirements.

In approving AquaBounty’s salmon last year, the FDA said that the GM salmon was as safe to eat as conventional salmon, and the same conclusion was reached earlier this year by Health Canada. Furthermore, the Canadian federal courts recently dismissed an appeal by environmental groups, concluding that the GM salmon posed no threat to the environment.