Edmonton, AB – Today, the Hon. Laurie Hawn, PC, CD, MP for Edmonton Centre, on behalf of the Hon. Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, announced the signing of a Letter of Intent with Ceapro Inc. to complete the breeding process, to test, and to register a specialty oat variety developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) for Ceapro’s use in its oat compound extraction process. A new oat variety will help farmers access the lucrative market for skin care products and other nutraceuticals.

“This kind of partnership with industry is the best way to get innovative ideas out of the lab and into the marketplace where they can deliver results for farmers and the economy,” said MP Hawn. “Specialty crop varieties will increase the revenues of farmers licensed to grow them and offer exciting new choices to consumers.”

The new variety was tailor-bred by AAFC for use with an AAFC-patented malting technology that dramatically increases the quantities of a compound that has antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties. The soothing compound is only found in oats and has potential for use as an ingredient in neutraceutical products. AAFC announced the sole licensing of the malting technology to Ceapro Inc. in May of this year.

“This agreement will help farmers add value to their crops, through the premiums they receive for growing the new oats under contract for Ceapro,” said MP Hawn.

This new hulless oat has a unique shape that is more conducive to milling and processing to extract its
beneficial compounds. The combination of the malting technology with this specialty oat will help dramatically improve the efficiency and lower the costs of delivering this product to market to the benefit of farmers and consumers.

“We are very pleased that Ceapro and AAFC have signed this new oat variety agreement to become the feedstock for utilizing both AAFC’s and Ceapro’s unique and innovative process technologies to produce high concentration and high yield avenanthramide products,” said Gilles Gagnon, Ceapro’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “The commercial development of these avenanthramide products should allow Ceapro to enter the functional food, nutraceutical, and botanical drug markets with key strategic partners and greatly expand this Canadian success story.”

The Letter specifies that Ceapro Inc. will cover all the costs of production, registration and protection of the oat variety with an eye to negotiating a sole variety license before March 31, 2015.

“Our Government remains committed to driving research and innovation to support a strong agriculture sector and a strong Canadian economy,” concluded MP Hawn. “By partnering with industry through this agreement, we’re helping to grease the skids of innovation and get good ideas from the lab to the marketplace faster.”

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