Monsanto Licenses EXZACT Genome-Editing Technology from Dow AgroSciences

By Jim Steadman|October 3, 2016

Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences have reached a non-exclusive global option and licensing agreement on Dow’s EXZACT Precision Technology Platform for research and commercial development of new crop solutions across Monsanto’s research portfolio.

EXZACT technology, which Dow AgroSciences has developed under an exclusive license and collaboration agreement in plants with Sangamo BioSciences, facilitates the creation of crop varieties and lines having improved traits.

“Monsanto is pleased to pursue applications of this genome-editing technology for the development of new plant discoveries and solutions for farmers,” said Dr. Tom Adams, biotechnology lead for Monsanto. “Zinc finger nucleases are a well-established technology for gene editing, and this license – together with our existing and other licensed technology – will allow us to pursue product development while further enabling our growing body of research in this emerging field.”

“EXZACT technology is helping deliver next generation crop improvements into the hands of farmers,” said Dr. Daniel Kittle, vice president, research and development, Dow AgroSciences. “Broad adoption of EXZACT by industry partners such as Monsanto expands access to solutions that will improve grower productivity and profitability.”

Both companies noted that genome-editing technology and the broad array of emerging genome-editing techniques – including the zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology in EXZACT – represent key scientific applications that can deliver breakthroughs in agriculture, enable plant breeders to deliver better hybrids and varieties more efficiently, and offer plant scientists additional resources to provide new improvements in plant biotechnology.