Willow Biosciences Inc. ("Willow" or the "Company") (TSX: WLLW) (OTCQB: CANSF), a leading biotechnology company focused on revolutionizing industrial manufacturing of pure, consistent and sustainable ingredients along with Inscripta®, a global leader in automated, CRISPR-based gene editing technology, announced today that Willow has incorporated the Onyx Genome Engineering Platform into its strain engineering workflows.

Having previously been a part of Inscripta's early access program, Willow has a deep appreciation for the value that automated, parallel genome editing capability brings, especially to a lean biotech company. The integrated and intuitive interface of the benchtop Onyx instrument uses best-in-class gene editing technology, enabling scientists to rapidly perform multiplexed, whole genome CRISPR edits at the push of a button.

The Onyx platform will further accelerate Willow's genetic editing capabilities and throughput and positively impact timelines for the commercial development of its FutureGrown™ molecules and subsequent reduction in time to market. Incorporation of the Onyx platform into Willow's proven workflow will enable its team to engineer strains more rapidly, giving researchers back invaluable time to focus on intelligent library design and data analysis.

"Technology advancements such as next generation sequencing have enabled researchers to read genetic information at incredible speed and depth. Inscripta's technology now enables researchers to write genetic information with the same speed and with unparalleled precision, a combination that promises endless possibilities. Willow is thrilled to seamlessly integrate Inscripta's automated, high-throughput gene editing platform to shorten our development cycles and empower our scientists to effectively harness the tremendous potential of the entire genome" said Dr. Trish Choudhary, Vice President of Research & Development at Willow Biosciences.

"The future of the synthetic biology economy is dependent on both large and small companies innovating under increasing pressure to deliver better products, faster, and often with less resources. Willow is a great example of how a lean, yet highly innovative organization can rapidly integrate and utilize the Onyx platform," said Dr. Nandini Krishnamurthy, Vice President of Microbial Business Unit at Inscripta. "We are looking forward to working with the team at Willow to further increase their strain performance while shortening development timelines."

Willow develops and produces high-purity ingredients for the personal care, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical markets. Willow's FutureGrownÔ biotechnology platform allows large-scale production with sustainability at its core. Willow's R&D team has a proven track record of developing and commercializing bio-based manufacturing processes and products to benefit our B2B partners and their customers.

For further information, please visit www.willowbio.com. 

Inscripta® is a life science technology company enabling scientists to solve some of today's most pressing challenges with the first benchtop system for genome editing. The company's automated Onyx® platform, consisting of an instrument, consumables, assays, and software, makes CRISPR-based genome engineering accessible to any research lab. Inscripta supports its customers around the world from facilities in Boulder, Colorado; San Diego and Pleasanton, California; and Copenhagen, Denmark.

To learn more, visit Inscripta.com and follow @InscriptaInc. Or contact

Michael B. Gonzales
Vice President, Marketing 
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
415.308.6467

This news release may include forward-looking statements including opinions, assumptions, estimates and the Company's assessment of future plans and operations, and, more particularly, statements concerning: Willow's ability to expand genetic editing capabilities and throughput and positively impact timelines for the commercial development of its FutureGrown™ molecules; and the business plan of the Company. When used in this news release, the words "will," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intent," "may," "project," "should," and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are founded on the basis of expectations and assumptions made by the Company which include, but are not limited to: the success of Willow's strategic partnerships, including the development of future strategic partnerships; the financial strength of the Company; the ability of the Company to fund its business plan using cash on hand and existing resources; the market for Willow's products; the ability of the Company to obtain and retain applicable licences; the ability of the Company to obtain suitable manufacturing partners and other strategic relationships; and the successful implementation of Willow's commercialization and production strategy, generally. Forward-looking statements are subject to a wide range of risks and uncertainties, and although the Company believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will be realized. Any number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, risks associated with: the biotechnology industry in general; the success of the Company's research and development strategies; infringement on intellectual property; failure to benefit from partnerships or successfully integrate acquisitions; actions and initiatives of federal and provincial governments and changes to government policies and the execution and impact of these actions, initiatives and policies; competition from other industry participants; adverse U.S., Canadian and global economic conditions; adverse global events and public-health crises, including the current COVID-19 outbreak; failure to comply with certain regulations; departure of key management personnel or inability to attract and retain talent; and other factors more fully described from time to time in the reports and filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities. Please refer to the Company's most recent annual information form and management's discussion and analysis for additional risk factors relating to Willow, which can be accessed either on Willow's website at www.willowbio.com or under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com.

Any financial outlook and future-oriented financial information contained in this document regarding prospective financial performance, financial position, cash balances or revenue is based on assumptions about future events, including economic conditions and proposed courses of action based on management's assessment of the relevant information that is currently available. Projected operational information contains forward-looking information and is based on a number of material assumptions and factors, as are set out above. These projections may also be considered to contain future-oriented financial information or a financial outlook. The actual results of the Company's operations for any period will likely vary from the amounts set forth in these projections and such variations may be material. Actual results will vary from projected results. Readers are cautioned that any such financial outlook and future-oriented financial information contained herein should not be used for purposes other than those for which it is disclosed herein.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.