| Biotech Co.* (Country; Symbol) | Agbiotech Partner/Institution | Type/Product Area | Terms/Details (Date) |
| Avant Immuno-therapeutics Inc. (AVAN) | Pfizer Inc. | They extended deal to develop animal vaccines based on Avant technologies | Pfizer is funding the program to develop prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines to protect livestock and companion animals from respiratory and enteric diseases; terms of the deal were not disclosed (10/4) |
| Avidis SA* (France) | Novartis Animal Health (Switzerland) | Novartis will evaluate Avidis' aXent technology in the area of animal vaccines | The technology, which allows immunization without additives, will be studied for a bovine viral infection; a license agreement could follow (2/13) |
| Avidis SA* (France) | Merial Ltd. (joint venture of Merck & Co. Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis) | Merial got rights to use Avidis' aXent technology to develop recombinant veterinary vaccines | aXent is an adjuvant-free immunization technology; the agreement covers the use of aXent for two infectious diseases (11/30/05) |
| Benchmark BioLabs Inc.* | Amarillo Biosciences Inc. (OTC BB:AMAR) | Amarillo is funding a study of influenza in chickens | They are testing an oral interferon alpha agent against chicken influenza; terms of the deal were not disclosed (7/7) |
| BioDiem Ltd.* (Australia) | Australian Industry Department | BioDiem was awarded an A$2M ($1.5M) grant for research on its antimicrobial compound BDM-1 | The AusIndustry Commercial Ready grant will support testing of the product as a potential replacement for antibiotics in the poultry industry (12/21/05) |
| Bioject Medical Technologies Inc. (BJCT) | Merial Ltd. (joint venture of Merck & Co. Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis) | They entered a development and supply agreement covering Bioject's Vitajet 3 needle-free device | The deal covers delivery of a Merial vaccine with a modified Vitajet 3 for use in the companion animal market; terms of the deal were not disclosed (6/1) |
| Cellectis SA* (France) | Bayer BioScience NV (Belgium) | Bayer gained access to Cellectis' Meganuclease technology for use in R&D of products for agriculture | Meganucleases are molecules that target a highly specific break in an entire genome; terms and further details of the deal were not disclosed (6/30) |
| Cellectis SA* (France) | BASF Plant Science GmbH (Germany) | BASF licensed rights to use Cellectis' Meganculease Recombination System | BASF will use the technology for gene targeting in plants for agricultural and nutritional applications; terms were not disclosed (1/3) |
| Ceres Inc.* | The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Inc. | Collaboration to develop and commercialize advanced biomass crops for fuel ethanol production | Ceres gets an exclusive license to switch-grass germplasm and varieties developed and in-licensed by breeders at the foundation (6/7) |
| Cresset BioMolecular Discovery Ltd.* (UK) | Bayer CropScience (Germany) | Collaboration to use Cresset's molecular field technology for the discovery of new agrochemicals | Bayer will apply the FieldScreen software to identify active compounds for development; terms of the deal were not disclosed (1/10) |
| Crucell NV (the Netherlands; CRXL) | Merial Ltd. (joint venture of Merck & Co. Inc. and Sanofi Aventis) | Nonexclusive deal allows Merial to use the PER.C6 cell line for developing a gene therapy in a specific field of companion animal medicine | The deal, which is the second between the companies, includes an option for a commercial license agreement; terms were not disclosed (12/22/05) |
| CytoGenix Inc. (OTC BB: CYGX) | USDA Agricultural Research Service | They entered a formal Cooperative Research and Development Agreement covering vaccine development | The deal covers development of synDNA vaccines against existing and emerging strains of the bacteria that causes brucellosis, which affects livestock and other animals (5/8) |
| Devgen NV (Belgium; Euronext:DEVG) | Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. (subsidiary of DuPont) | They extended collaboration to develop superior crop varieties with innate resistance to plant pests | The primary focus is on the control of nematode infestation in soybeans; Devgen gets research payments, and is eligible to receive milestone and royalty payments (5/18) |
| Devgen NV (Belgium; Euronext:DEVG) | Flanders government | Devgen was awarded a €3.3M grant to develop technologies to protect crops against plant pests | The goal of the three-year program is to build on Devgen's RNAi and protein-based technologies and to address plant pathogens that cannot be dealt with using current GMO technologies (1/31) |
| Embrex Inc. (EMBX)
| Pfizer Animal Health (division of Pfizer Inc.)
| Pfizer offered $155 in cash to acquire Embrex | Embrex is developing poultry vaccines and vaccine technology; the deal was expected to close in the first quarter of 2007 (11/15) |
| Evogene Ltd.* (Israel)
| Biogemma SAS* (France)
| Deal to jointly develop commercial corn lines with improved tolerance to drought
| Genomics approaches from Biogemma will be used with gene candidates from Evogene in the effort; terms were not disclosed (7/25) |
| 454 Life Sciences Corp. (majority owned by Curagen Corp.; CRGN) | Keygene NV (the Netherlands) | Keygene purchased 454's Genome Sequencer 20 system, which is distributed by Roche Applied Science | The systems will be used in the genotyping of plants; the companies also entered a collaboration to develop other applications in the field of plant genetics; terms of the deal were not disclosed (1/12) |
| 454 Life Sciences Corp. (majority owned by CuraGen Corp.; CRGN) | National Center for Genome Resources | 454 was selected to sequence the major pathogen of vegetable crops, Phytophthora capsici | 454 and the NCGR will work with the Joint Genome Institute of the Department of Energy, Ohio State University and the University of Tennessee in the collaboration (12/14/05) |
| Genesis Bioventures Inc. (OTC BB:GBIW) | Bio Business Development Co. (Canada) | Bio Business got rights to commercialize the Rapid Prion Detection Assays in 18 countries of the Pacific Rim | Terms of the deal were not disclosed (6/16)
|
| GeneThera Inc. (OTC BB: GTHA) | Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna (Italy) | Research collaboration related to the diagnosis of animal transmittable diseases, such as mad cow disease and scrapie | IZSLER will provide GeneThera with laboratory facilities and data from postmortem brain samples; terms of the deal were not disclosed (6/14) |
| GenVec Inc. (GNVC) | U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service | GenVec got funding for development of vaccines to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease | The $1.7M in funding will support work in 2006 as part of a multiyear research collaboration (3/1) |
| Imugene Ltd. (Australia; ASX:IMU) | Australian government | Imugene is getting an A$0.88M ($0.68M) Commercial Ready Grant | The two-year matching grant will help fund development of vaccines for protecting chickens against the H5N1 avian influenza virus (11/8) |
| Inscent Inc.* | U.S. National Science Foundation | Inscent was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research grant | Funds will support development of techlogies based on insect chemosensory proteins, which may have applicability in insect control and biosensors (9/11) |
| Lipid Sciences Inc. (LIPD)
| Elanco Animal Health (division of Eli Lilly and Co.)
| Collaboration to research and develop immunological products for animal health applications
| The initial focus is a vaccine directed against specific lipid-enveloped organisms; Elanco will pay all R&D expenses; Lipid Sciences is eligible to receive technology access fees, milestone payments and royalties on resulting sales (11/8) |
| Maize Technologies International GmbH* (Austria) | Dow AgroSciences LLC | Dow obtained exclusive rights to the U.S. corn product development pipeline of MTI | MTI in turn gained access to Herculex Insect Protection traits from Dow; terms of the agreement were not disclosed (4/25) |
| Mendel Biotechnology Inc.* | Monsanto Co. | The companies expanded ongoing collaboration and extended the agreement through 2011 | The deal focused on research in plant gene expression to enhance yields began in 1997; Mendel is entitled to milestone and royalty payments on resulting products (7/10) |
| Perlegen Sciences Inc.* | International Rice Research Institute (the Philippines)
| Collaboration to identify DNA variation in 15 rice strains
| Perlegen will use its high-throughput oligonucleotide array approach enabled by Affymetrix Inc. GeneChip technology in the effort; terms were not disclosed (11/16/05)# |
| SemBioSys Genetics Inc. (Canada; TSX:SBS) | Syngenta Crop Protection AG (Switzerland) | SemBioSys acquired technology related to the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals in safflower | SemBioSys issued five-year warrants that allow Syngenta to purchase 550,000 common shares at C$13.21 per share (6/13) |
| Senesco Technologies Inc. (AMEX:SNT) | ArborGen LLC | ArborGen exercised its option to license Senesco technology, following positive results from the first year of field trials | The collaboration focuses on developing trees with greater biomass and shorter time to harvest; terms of the deal were not disclosed (6/28) |
| Sequenom Inc. (SQNM) | GeneSeek Inc.* | GeneSeek purchased Sequenom's MassARRAY genetic analysis system | GeneSeek will use the system for animal diagnostic testing, traceability and contract research and development (12/19/05) |
| Xethanol Corp. (AMEX:XNL) | UTEK Corp. | The companies renewed their strategic alliance focused on biofuels production | UTEK focuses on technology transfer; Xethanol continues to gain access to technology from research institutions (7/24) |
Notes: | |||
This chart contains information on new and revised corporate agreements, as well as other actions, involving agricultural or animal biotechnology. | |||
* Private companies are indicated with an asterisk. | |||
# Item occurred before the time frame of this chart but was not included in the previous chart. | |||
Unless otherwise indicated, shares are traded on the Nasdaq exchange. | |||
| AMEX = American Stock Exchange; ASX = Australian Stock Exchange; OTC BB = Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board; TSX = Toronto Stock Exchange. | |||
