Athenix Corporation,
a leading biotechnology company developing high-value
bio-industrial products for the Agricultural and Chemical
businesses using genetic traits from microbes, announced a
strategic collaboration with Mertec LLC, a leading breeder and
supplier of soybean seed.
The two companies will bring newly developed traits from
Athenix to the market in soybean varieties developed by Mertec.
The collaboration includes product development and registration.
Mertec will market the co-developed soybean varieties using
their strong industry channels.
Under a separate Agreement, Athenix has acquired a commercial
license for certain important enabling technologies from Stine
Biotechnology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Midwest Oilseeds,
Inc. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"We are very pleased to work with Mertec, an industry-leading
seed company, and to have access to their outstanding soybean
varieties," said Mike Koziel, President and CEO of Athenix. "The
combination of Mertec's excellent germplasm with our innovative,
breakthrough traits will provide growers with soybean varieties
having superior yield and quality." He added that "The
technology in-licensed from Midwest Oilseeds is an important
addition to our enabling technologies portfolio, extending our
capabilities for trait delivery into many important crop
plants."
Joseph Merschman, Mertec's President, said: "We are excited
about partnering with Athenix. This collaboration strengthens
our ability to deliver innovative products to our dealers and
farmer customers."
Midwest Oilseed's Marketing Manager, David Thompson, said:
"We are pleased to see our technology being used in conjunction
with Athenix' strong gene discovery capabilities. This
combination provides an excellent vehicle for delivering traits
and creating value in several important crops."
Athenix is a leading biotechnology company developing
innovative, high-value, bio-industrial products for the
Agricultural and Chemical businesses using genetic traits from
microbes. These traits are used to develop enhanced plants,
microbes, enzymes, and processes capable of providing renewable
resources for a variety of industry sectors. Athenix is focused
on two major market opportunities: 1) the discovery of genes and
proteins for novel input traits (such as insect resistance,
nematode resistance and herbicide tolerance), and their use to
develop transgenic plants for the Agricultural Chemical and Seed
Industries; and 2) the discovery of genes and proteins for
improved bioconversion in the Chemical, Alternative Energy and
Animal Feed Industries. For more information about Athenix,
visit
Mertec LLC, based in West Point, Iowa, is a leading breeder
and developer of soybean germplasm for the seed trade. Mertec
has an extensive line-up of soybean germplasm for the maturities
in the United States. Mertec has entered into strategic
relationships with biotech and life science companies to deliver
the latest traits and technologies to farmer growers in Mertec's
high yielding soybean germplasm.
Stine Biotechnology is
a wholly owned subsidiary of Midwest Oilseeds, Inc., based in
Adel, Iowa. Stine Biotechnology is an industry leader in
developing proprietary transformation and enabling technologies
for plants and microbes.
