Pivot Bio’s Response to NYT Article

Today, Pivot Bio was featured in an article in the New York Times – Changing the DNA of Living Things to Fight Climate Change. We appreciated the opportunity to spend time with journalist Eric Lipton and share the breakthrough and innovative work that is underway at Pivot Bio. Thanks to a world-class group of forward-thinking investors and team members, Pivot Bio has developed innovative solutions that are successfully used by thousands of farmers on millions of acres of crops across the United States. For more than a decade, our scientists have worked side by side with America’s farmers to create products that improve nitrogen efficiency; this is important, as fertilizer is one of the most significant input costs for farmers and has a major impact on our environment. Yet, cutting-edge science in agriculture only succeeds when it works for farmers. As was pointed out in the article, our breakthrough solutions are helping farmers enhance their crops' resiliency and profitability while conserving the natural resources essential for effective growth in all types of weather conditions. 

A couple of points that are important to clarify from the article – our products are gene-edited microbes that naturally fix nitrogen. Our innovations unlock nature’s existing potential and stand in contrast to past GMOs created by transferring DNA from one species to another – we are not mixing DNA from different organisms. Science shows clearly that while our microbes are highly effective and resilient, they are naturally less competitive than their wild counterparts in the soil. These strains work specifically within the plant's root zone and microbiome, which helps them focus on supporting the plant. As the plant matures and stops producing exudates (which provide nutrients for the microbes), the microbes complete their job and naturally decline. At this stage, they are no longer detectable in the soil, having contributed to the plant’s growth during its critical phases. We have worked with some of the world’s leading scientific researchers to study these microbes and their safety and look forward to working with others to continue to share this research, including from notable universities such as MIT, NYU, University of Wisconsin, and more than a dozen others.

We continue to make great progress in connecting with strategic partners, from the largest ag input companies to consumer brands and fuel companies, and we know these partnerships are critical in creating solutions that will stand the test of time. 

Additionally, the article mentions Pivot Bio’s regulatory position. To be clear, Pivot Bio’s products are absolutely regulated, and the process to receive the necessary approvals took years, not weeks to complete. Pivot’s products meet or exceed all state and federal requirements for safety and product registration. We believe regulation is important and have never, nor would, ask to avoid regulation. Pivot’s products have been reviewed by the USDA, FDA, EPA and regulators in all the states in which they are sold. The company’s regulatory team proactively met with regulatory agencies to ensure that the company completed all necessary regulatory steps, exceeding what was required. We believe that regulation of biological products is important and have worked with agencies to strengthen the regulatory process, not circumvent it. We’re proud of the work we do to help regulators, policymakers, and consumers understand the role our products can play to help the world safely produce more food, fuel, and fiber to meet the needs of a growing population without compromising our clean air and water. 

As the industry leader, Pivot takes our responsibility for explaining the benefits and safety of this emerging class of products very seriously. Biotechnology is what has enabled Pivot Bio to provide the first new source of nitrogen to farmers in 100 years – one that performs better, at a lower cost than synthetic nitrogen, while being better for the environment.

We know that nitrogen loss is a significant risk to the environment. It has been identified as a planetary boundary that has been crossed and is a significant driver of climate change and biodiversity loss. That is why the U.N. has committed to halving nitrogen loss by the end of the decade. Our products are safe and a critical tool to achieve the world’s nitrogen loss reduction target. 

We also appreciated Eric pointing out the results that are being delivered to farmers. We believe farmers are the heroes of the world’s food supply chain, and we’re all on the same team when it comes to supporting their efforts to feed a growing population and evolve our food system. Farmers are the ultimate conservationists, biologists, and innovators, and they are vital partners as we work to build the next generation of products that will meet their evolving nitrogen-management needs. We appreciate this story from The New York Times shining a light on the important and challenging work that our team continues to undertake.