La Jolla, California
August 4, 2000

Akkadix Corporation, an international agricultural gene discovery and functional genomics company, announced today the signing of a three-year agreement with the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council relating to the funding of research directed to the improvement of soybean crops.

Under the agreement, Akkadix will manage research programs that will be funded by the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council. The research will be carried out principally at the University of Missouri. Intellectual property that is developed under the sponsored research programs will be licensed to Akkadix for further development and commercialization.

According to Jerry Caulder, CEO of Akkadix, "The collaboration between the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council and Akkadix in this program will help leverage the strengths of the two organizations, provide enhanced value to farmers and create new soybean crop opportunities. We have chosen the University of Missouri as the focal point for the research because it is a recognized leader in this area." Under the agreement, Akkadix’s responsibilities will be to identify target traits and technologies, especially those that would be of benefit to Missouri farmers, and to make all of the intellectual property developed under the research programs first available to Missouri soybean farmers.

In May, Akkadix announced that it had acquired exclusive rights to a gene discovery technology ("TraitFinder™") that was developed jointly by Dr. Martin Yanofsky at the University of California, San Diego and Dr. Detlef Weigel at The Salk Institute, and that it had entered into exclusive consulting agreements with the aforementioned scientists, and Dr. Julian Schroeder of the University of California, San Diego, to advise Akkadix on utilizing this technology for the identification of new plant traits. Dr. Joanne Chory, a member of Akkadix’s Scientific Advisory Board will also participate as an advisor to this unique program.

In March, Akkadix announced the extension and expansion of its research relationship with the University of Edinburgh for an additional period of three years. Research activities under this relationship will comprise seven separately funded areas: Plant growth control; Plant stature and organ size; Embryo, seed and fruit development; Disease, pathogen and pest resistance; Plant primary and secondary metabolism; and Natural product pathways. Developments arising under these programs will be available to Akkadix on an exclusive worldwide bass for all crops.

In February, Akkadix announced that it had licensed certain gene technologies developed by Dr. Vicki B. Vance from the South Carolina Research Institute. The licensed gene technologies are useful to ensure durable, high-level expression of transgenes in crop plants. In addition, Akkadix also announced that it had entered into a three-year research Agreement to fund Dr. Vance’s on-going research into an important viral defense phenomenon in plants known as post-transcriptional gene silencing.

In January of this year, Akkadix also announced the establishment of a research collaboration with The Philippine Rice Institute (PhilRice) for gene discovery in rice. Developments arising under this program will also be available to Akkadix on a worldwide basis, and to PhilRice for use in the Philippines.

Equity funding for Akkadix Corporation has come from venture capital investments by Bay City Capital Fund I, L.P, North American Nutrition and Agribusiness Fund, L.P. (which is also managed by Bay City Capital, LLC.), and the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council. Corporate shareholders include Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Forage Genetics, Inc.

Akkadix Corporation is a global agricultural biotechnology and foundation seed company that uses gene discovery, functional genomics, bioinformatics, plant breeding and other technologies for the discovery and delivery of novel plant traits which improve health and safety, increase production, lower costs, help preserve the environment and create new opportunities for agriculture.