| DowElanco invests
$17 million to bring new technology to world market |
December 1, 1997
DowElanco today announced a $17 million investment
and strategic alliance with SemBioSys
Genetics Inc. of Calgary to commercialize a key breakthrough in plant molecular
biology. "In the next 10 years this alliance will add about 150 new high quality
positions in Alberta and has the
potential to generate more than $160 million in annual sales in the same timeframe,"
says DowElanco Canada CEO Rick Smith.
"The agrosciences industry is rapidly changing and DowElanco plans to stay in the
forefront by being an active participant in commercializing this unique gene expression
system to add value to oilseed crops," says Smith.
DowElanco's partnership with SemBioSys will allow joint identification of markets,
customers and the development of the technology that translates into new, cost-effective
ways to produce a wide variety of pharmaceutical proteins, vaccines, industrial and feed
products in plants.
"This crucial investment from DowElanco will help us bridge the gap between the early
discovery stage and commercialization with large market potential of this exciting and
very viable technology," says SemBioSys Chairman Richard Elenko. "The goal of
developing a global business based in Alberta and founded on Western Canadian technology
is one very giant step closer to being realized," Elenko says. "SemBioSys is now
truly open for business," he adds.
DowElanco Canada has invested more than $4 million in SemBioSys to date and is supporting
a research chair at the University of Calgary. Today's announcement involves agreements in
place that provide options for more than $17 million in funding over the next five years.
A portion of
the funding is allocated to building pilot plant facilities in Alberta.
DowElanco Canada is a privately-held subsidiary of DowElanco, a $2-billion global
agrosciences company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. SemBioSys Genetics Inc. was formed in
1994 and is based on technology and then patents developed by Dr. Maurice Moloney at The
University of
Calgary. SemBioSys has been granted an exclusive licence for the technology from The
University of Calgary through University Technologies International Inc. N1550 |
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