BASF, Monsanto Research Accord

NEW YORK - Mar 21/07 - SNS -- BASF and Monsanto Company entered a long-term joint research and development and commercialization collaboration in plant biotechnology that will focus on the development of high yielding crops and crops that are more tolerant to adverse environmental conditions such as drought.

The two companies will dedicate a joint budget of potentially U.S. $1.5 billion or Euro 1.2 billion to fund a dedicated pipeline of yield and stress tolerance traits for corn, soybeans, cotton and canola.

The joint pipeline will include the companies' existing and planned yield and stress tolerance programs and be comprised of projects generated by independent plant biotechnology discovery and research from each company. The first product developed as part of this collaboration is expected to be commercialized in the first half of the next decade.

Under the agreement, the companies will establish and collaboratively manage a dedicated pipeline that will focus on the development of crops with higher yields and crops that lead to consistent yields under adverse environmental conditions, such as drought.

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