Phytodyne, Inc. announced today it has secured significant funding through a preferred stock offering. The investment will be used to continue research, development and commercialization of new biotechnology techniques for plant improvement.

Major investors in the offering are the Principal Financial Group, Wellmark, Inc., and John Pappajohn. Current Phytodyne shareholders from the Ames area have also invested additional capital in the biotechnology venture.

Dennis Menken, portfolio manager for the Principal Financial Group, said, "Biotechnology and agriculture are key growth engines for Iowa. We're happy to be a part of that growth through this investment in an Iowa-based company. The technology Phytodyne is developing will help Iowa's economy and will impact agriculture worldwide."

Dean Grewell, vice president of investments at Wellmark, commented, "Wellmark has a strong interest in seeing Iowa's economy grow and thrive. Phytodyne has the technology to derive new value from Iowa's crops. That increased value will be a strong factor in Iowa's growth."

Phytodyne was founded in 2000 by Drs. Daniel Voytas and David Wright based on their discovery of plant retroviruses at Iowa State University's Plant Sciences Institute. Their discoveries are now the basis for the Company's key technologies for improving plants.

Equity Dynamics, the venture capital group lead by John Pappajohn, supplied significant initial investment capital and business expertise to help launch Phytodyne three years ago.

"Phytodyne is addressing a growing plant biotechnology market with innovative technology and a strong management team," said John Pappajohn. "Phytodyne is also a successful example of the rising entrepreneurial spirit in Iowa. Our continuing investment in Phytodyne demonstrates our commitment to seeing technologies developed in Iowa, making our state's economy more vibrant and diverse. I am pleased that leading Iowa-based insurance companies, like Principal and Wellmark, share my commitment to and investment in Iowa entrepreneurial ventures."

Phytodyne is a privately held company providing novel genome modification technologies for improvement of plants. The speed, accuracy and flexibility of these technologies, along with Phytodyne's intellectual property positions, will eliminate barriers to markets that currently constrain companies relying on traditional methods for plant transformation. Phytodyne provides contract research services for seed companies and plant biotechnology firms. The Company's technologies can also be licensed to companies preferring to conduct in-house genome modification.