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Vacaville, California
June 20, 2001
Large Scale Biology Corporation (NASDAQ:LSBC) and
Plant Bioscience Ltd.
(PBL), Norwich, UK, announced today a broad, exclusive licensing
and option agreement in plant functional genomics that will
enable a major expansion of LSBC's high-throughput, gene
discovery capabilities by combining LSBC's proprietary
GENEWARE(R) genomics platform with PBL's substantial portfolio
of technologies in this field.
Under the terms of the agreement, PBL is granting an exclusive
license to certain viral-derived gene silencing and
overexpression technologies developed by Professor David
Baulcombe and colleagues at The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich,
UK. PBL is also granting an exclusive license to certain other
viral-derived technologies for gene silencing and enhanced gene
expression developed
at North Carolina State University by Professor Niki Robertson
and the University of South Carolina by Professor Vicki Vance
and exclusively licensed to PBL.
"Our GENEWARE functional genomics technology allows us to
rapidly determine the function of completely uncharacterized
gene sequences via high-throughput robotic cloning and
transfection of mature plants. With this expanded portfolio of
gene silencing and overexpression capabilities from PBL, we aim
to be the definitive provider of genes and technologies for
manipulating metabolic
pathways in plants to lead to new routes for production of
high-performance chemicals, nutraceuticals, pharmaceutical
intermediates, and improved agricultural crops and products,"
said Dr. Guy della-Cioppa, Vice President of Business
Development for LSBC.
"We see many commercial applications for our technology in
agricultural markets and expect this alliance with PBL to
accelerate our ability to successfully address many new
opportunities. After the past three years of outstanding success
in agricultural genomics which has resulted in cash payments to
the Company in excess of $45 million, we are in a position to be
much more aggressive in our agriculture business," said Robert
Erwin, Chairman and CEO of LSBC.
"We are excited that this interaction will combine two
exceptionally strong technology packages, providing a full
platform of state-of-the-art options for all aspects of plant
functional genomics, and viral-based manufacture of valuable
compounds in plants. Large Scale is a natural choice of partner
to deliver our plant functional genomics technology to a wider
customer base," said Dr. Jan Chojecki, PBL's Managing Director.
About Plant Bioscience Ltd
Plant Bioscience Limited (PBL) is an independent technology
interaction and intellectual property management company
established in 1994. PBL manages emerging technologies from the
John Innes Centre (Norwich, UK), The Sainsbury Laboratory
(Norwich, UK) and many other academic institutions around the
world. For more information about PBL, visit the Company's
website at
www.plantbioscience.com.
About Large Scale Biology Corporation
Large Scale Biology uses its proteomics, functional genomics and
biomanufacturing technologies to develop and manufacture
personalized drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for rapid
identification and effective treatment of disease. Corporate
offices and the Genomics and Antigenics divisions are
headquartered in Vacaville, California; the Company's Proteomics
subsidiary is located in Germantown, Maryland; and the Company's
bioprocessing and manufacturing facilities are located in
Owensboro, Kentucky. For more information about Large Scale
Biology Corporation, visit the Company's website at
www.lsbc.com.
Company news release
N3597 |
