CropDesign N.V. (CropDesign) announced today the appointment of Dr. Pol Bamelis as Chairman of the Board of Directors of CropDesign. Dr Bamelis has assumed the role of Chairman of the Board of CropDesign.

Until recently Dr. Bamelis (61) was a member of the Corporate Board at Bayer AG, a leading life sciences, polymers and chemicals company. Dr Bamelis officially retired from Bayer on 30 April, after 36 years with the company, of which 10 years as a Board member. During his career with Bayer, Dr. Bamelis held various positions, most recently as Board responsible for Research and Development, and for the Agricultural business segment. His long and diverse industry experience will greatly aid CropDesign. Dr. Bamelis was one of the main architects of Bayer’s biotechnology strategy, and was closely involved in the company’s biotech collaborations, including those with Paradigm Genetics, Exelixis and Lion Bioscience.

Dr. Bamelis commented, "I am greatly looking forward to joining the CropDesign team. In fact, I accepted the position of Chairman of the Board of CropDesign for several reasons; the company is active in an area that I know well, and it has built an impressive technology platform, a solid team, and a strong financial position in a short period of time." In August, 2000 CropDesign completed a second round of financing raising €25.7 million of equity capital. Dr. Bamelis added, "I also enjoy very much working with young and dynamic researchers and managers. My goal is to help guide CropDesign through the strategic challenges it will face in the months and years to come in this dynamic, high-technology field."

Dr. Herman Van Mellaert, CropDesign CEO, commented, "We are very pleased that Dr. Bamelis has accepted to chair our Board. A young company like CropDesign has to make tough strategic decisions at several points in its development. It is a major asset for us to work closely with an experienced industry professional like Dr. Bamelis, who has been guiding a large multinational through such challenges for many years." Van Mellaert added, "Our Board currently comprises members of the management team, experts from the financial community, and an independent Board member with strong seed industry background. Dr. Bamelis will greatly add to this group with his expertise in the agrochemical, fine chemical and pharmaceutical industry".

CropDesign, based in Gent, Belgium is an agbiotech company focussed on the application of functional genomics for improved crop performance, including higher yield, heightened tolerance to stress and diseases and better quality. CropDesign applies its technology in rice, wheat and other cereals. Founded in 1998, CropDesign employs over 60 people at its research facilities in Gent.