Rhone-Poulenc Agro announced today that a jury in Greensboro, NC, found that Monsanto Company's subsidiary, DeKalb Genetics Corporation, had fraudulently induced Rhone-Poulenc to license its glyphosate-tolerance gene used in Roundup Ready(R) corn. The jury also determined that DeKalb had breached agreements with Rhone-Poulenc to disclose test results of the glyphosate tolerance gene which led to the 1994 license agreement between the two companies. The jury awarded Rhone-Poulenc damages of $15 million and punitive damages of $50 million. Consequently, the 1994 Agreement is canceled with neither DeKalb nor Monsanto having rights to Rhone- Poulenc Agro's gene. As all Roundup Ready corn incorporates the Rhone- Poulenc gene, DeKalb and Monsanto have no right to sell Roundup Ready corn.

In addition, this decision opens the way for a new Rhone-Poulenc trial against Monsanto and
DeKalb for patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation.

"We are very satisfied with the jury's decision, which assures that companies doing business
must act honorably,'' declared Alain Godard, Rhone-Poulenc Agro's Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer, who testified in the case. "The team effort behind the victory was fantastic,''
he added.

Rhone-Poulenc remains open to a resolution with Monsanto so that seed companies can use
Roundup Ready corn.

Rhone-Poulenc Agro, based in Lyon, France, is a leading research-driven worldwide manufacturer and marketer of crop protection products and technologies. It is also a subsidiary of Rhone-Poulenc S.A., a global life sciences company, growing through innovations in human, plant and animal health and through its specialty chemicals subsidiary, Rhodia. With sales in 1998 of FF86.8 billion (US$14.8 billion), the company employs 65,000 people in 160 countries worldwide.

Roundup Ready is a trademark of Monsanto Company.

N1757