New Brunswick, New Jersey
September 18, 2007
Senesco Technologies, Inc. ("Senesco" or the "Company")
(AMEX:SNT) announced today that the Company and
Bayer CropScience
entered into a licensing agreement (the "Agreement") pursuant to
which Bayer CropScience was granted the exclusive, worldwide
rights to Senesco's proprietary gene technology for use in rice.
The Agreement anticipates that the licensed technology will
enable Bayer CropScience to significantly enhance seed yields.
In return, Senesco will receive success-bound development
milestone and royalty payments upon commercialization. Specific
financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
"Senesco and Bayer CropScience have previously entered into
exclusive license agreements for use of Senesco's gene
technology in Canola and in Cotton. We are very pleased that
Bayer CropScience has returned to add a new license for a third
crop," said Bruce Galton, President and Chief Executive Officer
of Senesco.
Dr. Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, Head of Research at
BioScience, a business operations unit of Bayer CropScience,
welcomes the expanded business relationship with Senesco:
"Advantages in yield and yield stability have been the basis for
the fast adoption of our superior hybrids. We anticipate that
the further integration of Senesco's proprietary gene technology
into our R&D pipeline can allow us to offer further benefits to
our customers, especially with regard to ensuring high yields in
difficult climatic conditions."
Senesco Technologies, Inc. is a U.S. biotechnology company,
headquartered in New Brunswick, NJ. Senesco has initiated
preclinical research to trigger or delay cell death in mammals
(apoptosis) to determine if the technology is applicable in
human medicine.
Accelerating apoptosis may have applications to development of
cancer treatments. Delaying apoptosis may have applications to
certain inflammatory and ischemic diseases. Senesco takes its
name from the scientific term for the aging of plant cells:
senescence. Delaying cell breakdown in plants extends freshness
after harvesting, while increasing crop yields, plant size and
resistance to environmental stress. The Company believes that
its technology can be used to develop superior strains of crops
without any modification other than delaying natural plant
senescence. Senesco has partnered with leading-edge companies
engaged in agricultural biotechnology and earns research and
development fees for applying its gene-regulating platform
technology to enhance its partners' products
Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the
world's leading innovative crop science companies in the areas
of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and
plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of
products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable
agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer
CropScience has a global workforce of about 17,900 and is
represented in more than 120 countries.
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