Press Releases

Collaboration focuses on identifying key genes to help farmers produce more, while conserving more

ST. LOUIS, MO, USA and REHOVOT, ISRAEL (August 28 , 2008) –Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) and Evogene Ltd. (TASE: EVGN) have entered into a five- year research and development collaboration focused on identifying key plant genes related to yield, environmental stress and fertilizer utilization. The agreement is intended to enhance research efforts to discover and deliver novel, yield-enhancing technologies at a time of increasing demand for grain globally. 

“We have been very impressed with Evogene’s discovery capabilities, particularly their computer-based, predictive biology efforts,” said Robb Fraley, Monsanto’s Chief Technology Officer.  “We look forward to building upon our strong relationship with Evogene to deliver products to farmers’ fields that help meet the needs for increased food, fiber and energy while protecting the environment.” 

"In view of Monsanto’s leading position in the seed business and its history of delivering innovative products to farmers, we look forward to this expansion of our gene discovery collaboration,” said Mr. Ofer Haviv, Evogene's President and CEO. “The collaboration reflects the companies’ shared vision of delivering value to farmers through the development of yield-enhanced crops.” 

Under the terms of this collaboration:

-     Evogene will provide Monsanto with candidate genes discovered by  Evogene’s computational platform that are predicted to improve yield, fertilizer utilization and a plant’s reaction to environmental stress. The genes will be validated in model plants.

-     The collaboration will provide Monsanto access to new genes strengthening its entire gene discovery program. Monsanto will receive exclusive licensing rights to such genes in a number of crops, including corn, soybean, canola, and cotton.

-     Monsanto will evaluate the licensed genes in its research and development pipeline. Products that emerge from the joint development will be commercialized by Monsanto through its branded and licensed businesses. 

-     Evogene expects to receive approximately $35 million over the research term of the collaboration in the form of an upfront payment and annual research payments,  in consideration for the performance of the research.

-     Evogene is also entitled to development milestone and royalty payments based on sales of any resulting products. 

Monsanto believes this new collaboration will help support its commitment to double yields in its core crops by 2030 and strengthen its ongoing work with Evogene.  In September of 2007, the two companies announced a collaboration to improve nitrogen use efficiency in corn, soybeans, canola and cotton. 

In a separate agreement, Monsanto has purchased an $18 million (USD) equity stake  in Evogene and has agreed to purchase an additional $12 million in the future, subject to certain Evogene diligence requirements. 

Martin Gerstel, Chairman of Evogene, stated, “Having the world’s leading agriculture company as a major collaborator moving forward is clearly a transforming event in the history of our company, and we welcome Monsanto as a shareholder. Furthermore, with this new financial commitment, we are now convinced that Evogene has the resources required to aggressively pursue our two primary areas of interest – improved plants for agriculture and novel feedstocks for biofuels.” 

About Evogene

Evogene is a leading developer of improved plants for the ag-biotech and biofuel industries. The company’s proprietary product development platform combines state of the art computational gene discovery technologies, plant and field validation capabilities and unique selection systems. The platform’s computational biology component - the ATHLETE - is based on Compugen's (Nasdaq: CGEN) in-silico predictive discovery capabilities. Evogene's current programs focus on yield under normal and various environmental stress conditions (such as drought), fertilizer utilization and the improvement of plants specifically for biofuel uses. Evogene has collaboration and licensing agreements with world leading companies in the ag-biotech and alternative energy industries. Evogene's headquarters are in Rehovot, Israel, and its stock is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE:EVGN). For additional information, please visit Evogene’s website at www.evogene.com. 

About Monsanto Company

Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. For more information, please visit the company's web site at http://www.monsanto.com.  

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