Cologne, Germany
May 23, 2000

MPB Cologne GmbH, the Cologne-based plant and protein biotechnology enterprise, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) announced today that EMBL has granted a worldwide exclusive licence on its recombinase-ligand binding domain (rec-LBD) technology for application in plant biotechnology to MPB Cologne.

Rec-LBD stems from basic research conducted at EMBL and represents an improvement over standard genetic engineering techniques. It presets a "switch" for activation or inactivation of a specific gene at certain times during an organism´s life cycle. Furthermore, it allows directed excision of DNA sequences, especially of antibiotic resistance genes used as markers, prior to commercial application of transgenic plants.

The licence enables MPB Cologne to integrate the rec-LBD technology into its proprietary portfolio of plant genetic engineering tools. Furthermore, MPB Cologne is entitled to grant sublicences for applications in transgenic plants to its partners and clients.

"This technology moves MPB Cologne into a unique position in plant genetic engineering. Reliable control of gene expression in transgenic plants is still a major obstacle. Rec-LBD offers the straightforward solution", explained Dr. Klaus Düring, President & CEO of MPB Cologne. "Another important focus of application is directed excision of genes from transgenic plants."

The inventor Dr. Francis Stewart has already successfully demonstrated at EMBL the efficacy of this technology in transgenic mice. MPB Cologne GmbH is an independent, venture capital-financed biotechnology company founded in 1998 with about 35 employees. MPB´s major business area is Molecular Farming. Potato tubers and rape (canola) seeds are used as bioreactors for protein production. Another focus is on Resistance Engineering against bacterial and fungal pathogens by foreign protein expression in transgenic plants.

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