Bayer, FuturaGene Sign Cotton License Agreement

By Jim.Robinson|December 10, 2009

London-based FuturaGene PLC has entered into a license agreement for a drought-tolerance technology with Bayer CropScience. The agreement grants Bayer CropScience exclusive worldwide rights to utilize a FuturaGene drought-tolerance technology in cotton. FuturaGene will receive an upfront license fee, followed by development milestone payments and trait royalties on sales of cotton seeds incorporating this technology. Further financial details were not disclosed.

The technology licensed to Bayer is intended to protect the yield of the plant when it is subjected to drought. Drought is one of the principal environmental limits of crop yield as it hampers the cultivation of crops on more than 40 percent of the earth’s land surface, posing a serious threat to global agricultural production and food supplies.

Dr. Linda Trolinder, Global Cotton R & D Manager in the BioScience business group of Bayer CropScience, said: “We’re pleased to be working with FuturaGene as a partner in developing next generation drought tolerance in cotton. Their technology fits well with our strategy to explore multiple approaches to drought tolerance in order to bring the most effective, high-performance trait solutions to market to help farmers tackle this global challenge.”

Dr Stanley Hirsch, FuturaGene Chief Executive, added: “Combining our drought tolerance technology with Bayer’s development and marketing capabilities creates a huge benefit for both companies as well as to farmers. This important agreement fits precisely with our development strategy — to focus on poplar and eucalyptus for the paper and pulp and biomass markets whilst licensing our leading gene technologies to global operators for other crops.”

Source: FuturaGene Press Release