Agreement to speed development of nitrogen use efficiency, salt tolerance, and drought tolerance technologies

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. an agricultural technology company focused on products that benefit the environment and human health, today announced that is has licensed Japan Tobacco’s proprietary PureIntro® transformation technology for use in corn and rice.  Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
 
Arcadia is developing crop improvement technologies for nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), salt tolerance, and drought tolerance, as well as several human health-promoting plant technologies.  The company has successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of its nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) technology in multiple field trials with canola plants, and is currently field testing prototype NUE rice plants. Nitrogen use efficient canola consistently produced yields equal to the control crop using between 50 percent and 60 percent less nitrogen fertilizer in field trials.  Arcadia has also demonstrated salt tolerance and drought tolerance technology in crops.   The company expects the addition of Japan Tobacco’s PureIntro® transformation technology to further speed development of these and other technologies in plants.
 
“PureIntro® is a proven transformation technology that can add significant value to our NUE and other programs by reducing development time and costs,” said Eric Rey, president and CEO of Arcadia.  “Corn and rice are huge potential markets for these technologies – corn farmers alone use approximately $9.8 billion in nitrogen fertilizer every year and are among the largest global fertilizer users. Traditional plants are only able to use about half of the nitrogen applied to agricultural fields. NUE technology offers the opportunity to significantly reduce this nitrogen fertilizer requirement, which will benefit both farmers and the environment.”
 
"Japan Tobacco is very glad to see that Arcadia values our proprietary transformation system and its application to the commercialization of products," said Sadao Furuya, senior vice president and chief strategy officer of Japan Tobacco.
 
Based in Davis, California, with additional facilities in Seattle, Wash. and Phoenix, Ariz., Arcadia Biosciences is an agricultural biotechnology company focused on the development of agricultural products that improve the environment and enhance human health.  
 
Japan Tobacco Inc. is the world's third largest international manufacturer of tobacco products. The company manufactures internationally recognized cigarette brands including Camel, Winston, Mild Seven and Salem. Since its privatization in 1985, JT has actively diversified its operations into pharmaceuticals and foods. The company’s net sales were ¥4.637 trillion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006.