Davis, California
September 21, 2006
Arcadia
Biosciences, an agricultural technology company focused on
products that benefit the environment and human health, today
announced that is has appointed Mark Wong to its board of
directors.
Mr. Wong has more than 30 years of
agribusiness experience with a specialty in technology
integration and product commercialization. He is CEO and founder
of Renewable Agricultural Energy, Inc., a fuel ethanol provider.
Prior to Renewable Agricultural Energy, Mr. Wong was CEO and
founder of Emergent Genetics, Inc., which owned and operated
multiple international seed companies. Under his leadership, the
company integrated Monsanto’s technology into the company’s seed
lines and increased earnings five-fold in seven years. Emergent
Genetics achieved the world’s second largest market share in
cotton seed, and was sold to the Monsanto Company in 2006.
Prior to Emergent Genetics, Mr.
Wong was CEO of Agracetus Corporation, a subsidiary of W.R.
Grace & Company, which developed and commercialized key
technologies for integration of value-added genes into soybeans
and other crops. Agracetus was eventually purchased by the
Monsanto Company. Prior to Agracetus, Mr. Wong was COO of
Agrigenetics Corporation, a corn, sorghum and soybean seed
business that was sold to Lubrizol Corporation.
In addition to his present duties
at Renewable Agricultural Energy, Mr. Wong is partner at the
investment and consulting firm Big Stone Partners. He is serving
(and has served) as a board director on three of the world’s 50
largest agricultural seed companies. Mr. Wong earned a B.S. in
Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University
and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Finance.
“Mr. Wong has a strong track
record of building and capturing value in technology-based
agricultural businesses,” said Eric Rey, president and CEO of
Arcadia. “His experience will significantly benefit Arcadia as
it continues to mature and makes the transition from developing
to commercializing technology.”
“Arcadia is one of the leading
independent research companies with a large proprietary
collection of useful genes,” said Wong. “Because of the
company’s unique mission, successful commercialization of
Arcadia technologies will also have a significant positive
impact on the environment and human health.”
Arcadia has achieved numerous
successes advancing technologies that benefit both the
environment and human health. The company has demonstrated
technology that dramatically reduces nitrogen fertilizer
requirements for agricultural crops, which will benefit growers
by reducing fertilizer input costs, and benefit the environment
through
the reduced application of nitrogen fertilizer. The company has
also demonstrated technologies that enable salt and drought
tolerance in plants. The company has enriched GLA in safflower
oil to commercially significant levels and achieved key
milestones in the development of longer-lasting fresh lettuce
and tomato under a $2.9 million contract from the Department of
Defense. New agricultural products based on these technologies
will be available over the next several years, with GLA
safflower oil to be available first in 2008.
Based in Davis, California, with additional facilities in
Seattle, Washington and Phoenix, Arizona, Arcadia Biosciences is
an agricultural technology company focused on the development of
agricultural products that improve the environment and enhance
human health. |