Midland, MI - September 14, 2007
Dow AgroSciences LLC, a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), today announced a cross-licensing agreement with Monsanto that breaks new ground in the commercialization of gene stack technology.
The agreement is aimed at launching SmartStax™, the most complete yield protection ever made available in a corn hybrid, featuring eight different Dow AgroSciences and Monsanto herbicide tolerance and insect-protection genes. This technology is expected to be available to corn growers by the end of the decade.
"Once again, we are reaping the benefit of our commitment to drive technology leadership in our Performance businesses, focusing on projects that deliver significant value to our customers . . . and create long-term growth opportunities for our Company,” said Dow's chairman and CEO, Andrew Liveris. "This agreement provides a further endorsement of our strategy: we're being patient, we're being disciplined and we're investing in both organic opportunities and targeted acquisitions as we deliver on our commitment to become a predictable, long-term earnings growth company."
The agreement will generate new royalty revenues for Dow and provide an important platform for future business growth, as the Company incorporates SmartStax into new, higher-yielding hybrid seed combinations and stacks it with the other cutting-edge trait technologies currently under development.
“Specifically, we expect our Mycogen Seeds business to rapidly expand its platform and develop new products carrying SmartStax,” said Jerome Peribere, Dow AgroSciences president and chief executive officer. “And we anticipate enhanced market access for several other Dow AgroSciences gene technologies, including the recently announced Dow AgroSciences Herbicide Tolerance traits.
“This move marks another important milestone in the strategic growth agenda for Dow AgroSciences, and dovetails extremely well with our recent acquisitions in the corn business and our other trait discovery collaborations,” added Peribere.
SmartStax will include above- and below-ground insect protection systems, including Dow AgroSciences’ Herculex® I and Herculex RW technologies; Monsanto’s YieldGard VT Rootworm/RR2™ and YieldGard VT PRO™ technologies; and the two established weed control systems, Roundup Ready® and Liberty Link®. Both Dow and Monsanto will cross-license, under royalty-bearing agreements, their respective systems. This global agreement paves the way for U.S. introduction of SmartStax by the end of the decade pending regulatory approvals. The agreement is structured to operate in any country where the parties seek and obtain the necessary approvals and registrations for sale of the product.
Up-coming webcast
- Andrew Liveris, chairman and CEO of Dow and Jerome Peribere, CEO of Dow AgroSciences will host a live webcast of a conference call with investors to discuss the agreement between Dow AgroSciences and Monsanto, and other matters today at 10:30 a.m. EDT on www.dow.com.
About Dow
Roundup Ready, SmartStax, YieldGard, YieldGard VT Rootworm/RR2 and YieldGard VT Pro are trademarks of Monsanto Technology, LLC.
Herculex is a registered trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC.
Mycogen is a registered trademark of Mycogen Corporation.
Liberty Link is a registered trademark owned by Bayer CropScience.
The Dow diamond is a registered trademark of The Dow Chemical Company
Note: The forward‑looking statements contained in this document involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company’s operations, markets, products, services, prices and other factors as discussed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, legal, governmental and technological factors. Accordingly, there is no assurance that the Company’s expectations will be realized. The Company assumes no obligation to provide revisions to any forward‑looking statements should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.
For Editorial Information:
Chris Huntley
The Dow Chemical Company
+1 989 636 2876
