Exelixis and Dow AgroSciences today announced they have entered into a three-year collaboration to develop novel fungicides and herbicides for crop protection. As a result, Dow AgroSciences should be able to more rapidly develop certain new classes of fungicides and herbicides.

Under the terms of the agreement, Exelixis will identify and validate targets and format screening assays that will be used by Dow AgroSciences to develop new classes of fungicides and herbicides. Dow AgroSciences will receive a non-exclusive license with respect to these targets. Dow AgroSciences will provide research funding, in addition to milestone payments and royalties on the sales of products resulting from the collaboration. In addition, Exelixis will utilize a collection of proprietary compounds from Dow AgroSciences that may be useful in Exelixis' internal drug discovery programs. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"Farmers spend billions of dollars each year to minimize crop yield losses due to weeds and fungal diseases. Dow AgroSciences is committed to developing the safest and most effective products to control such pests. Our collaboration with Exelixis will enable us to efficiently identify high quality targets which will allow us to speed the discovery and development of new fungicides and herbicides of value to agriculture,'' said Len Smith, Vice President of Ag Chem and Urban Pest R&D for Dow AgroSciences.

"Our agreement with Dow AgroSciences leverages our technology platform in an area where we have significant expertise,'' said George A. Scangos, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Exelixis. "As a life sciences company, we are focused on the improvement of human health through better pharmaceuticals and better agriculture.''

Dow AgroSciences LLC, based in Indianapolis, Ind., USA, is a global leader in providing pest management and biotechnology products that improve the quality and quantity of the earth's food supply and contribute to the safety, health and quality of life of the world's growing population. Dow AgroSciences has approximately 6000 people in over 50 countries dedicated to its business, and has worldwide sales of more than US $2 billion. Dow AgroSciences is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company.

Exelixis, Inc. is a leading biotechnology company focused on the life sciences industries and development through its expertise in comparative genomics and model system genetics. These technologies provide a rapid, efficient and cost-effective way to move from DNA sequence data to knowledge about the function of genes and the proteins that they encode. The company's technology is broadly applicable to all life science industries including pharmaceutical, diagnostic, agricultural biotechnology and animal health. Exelixis has partnerships with Bayer, Pharmacia and Bristol-Myers Squibb and is leveraging these relationships to fund its internal development program in the area of oncology. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.exelixis.com. 

Company news release
N2825