A potential joint venture was part of a 1989 agreement bywhich Kubota, a multibillion dollar manufacturer of farmequipment, bought 13 percent of Mycogen (NASDAQ:MYCO) ofSan Diego. Japan Tobacco Inc. purchased an additional 4percent interest in Mycogen at that time.

Mycogen Corp. officials plan to return to Japan early nextmonth to continue talks with Osaka-based Kubota Ltd. aimed atsetting up a joint bioinsecticide company in Japan, Marie Burke,a Mycogen spokeswoman, said Friday.

The investment banking firm of Hambrecht & Quist Inc.predicts Mycogen's first-ever profits will be $1.7 million in1991. Company officials, who don't plan to make forecasts for afew more weeks, said that Mycogen will report a loss for 1990that will be less than 1989's loss of $1.8 million. Mycogen has$69 million in cash and a $12 million annual burn rate.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Mycogentopped a list of companies whose officials were net sellers oftheir companies' stocks. The data, compiled by Invest/Net of Ft.Lauderdale, Fla., said that Mycogen insiders trimmed theirstock holdings by 63 percent in the latest eight weeks thatwere reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission andby 81 percent in the latest 24 weeks. -- Rachel Nowak

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.