Devgen NV, a privately held functional genomics and drug discovery company, today announced that it has reached an agreement with FMC Corporation to extend this successful collaboration to April 2006.

"We continue to be impressed with Devgen’s capabilities and have tangible results in the form of novel assays and insect-active lead compounds" said Ann Orth, FMC Agricultural Products Research Director. "As we move ahead in our collaboration we will continue to exploit these targets and more fully utilize Devgen’s mode of action expertise for FMC chemistry."

Throughout the collaboration, which started in 1999, several new insecticide targets have been identified, genetically validated and built into proprietary high throughput-screening assays. These promising, undisclosed target screens have yielded new chemistries that are being further progressed at FMC. This demonstrates the value of both companies‘ target-based strategy to discover novel insect active compounds. "The extension of our agreement allows us to capitalize on our successes and to build on the foundation of a strong relationship. We are confident that FMC will continue to benefit from Devgen’s platform technologies and scientific expertise," said Thierry Bogaert, CEO of Devgen.

Devgen and FMC signed their original three-year collaborative agreement in November 1999, and then in September 2001 it was extended through May of 2005. Today’s announcement further extends their partnership to April 2006.

FMC Corporation is a diversified chemical company serving agricultural, industrial and consumer markets globally for more than a century with innovative solutions, applications and quality products. The company employs approximately 5,500 people throughout the world. FMC divides its businesses into three segments: Agricultural Products, Specialty Chemicals and Industrial Chemicals.

Devgen is the world leader for in vivo drug discovery based on the industrialized use of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. This technology base enables the successful utilization in pharmaceutical research synergistically with agrochemical and pest control applications and combines world-class use of model organism biology with powerful assay systems, bioinformatics and project-focused chemistry. Devgen enables the rapid prioritization and validation of disease targets, the identification of a drug’s mechanism of action, and has established a unique program that enables the high throughput screening of human transmembrane proteins, such as ion channels and transporters, in a physiological context. The company’s in-house programs are focused on developing novel therapies for metabolic and CNS related diseases.