DuPont and Athenix collaborate for corn and soybean protection

Date:01-16-2009

DuPont, a leader in crop protection solutions based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, US, has announced a collaborative agreement with Des Moines, Iowa, US-based Athenix, a leading biotechnology company, to improve insect control in corn and soybeans. Under the agreement – the terms of which were not disclosed – DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred will use proprietary insect-resistance trait genes from Athenix to develop and commercialize next-generation corn and soybean seed products.?

Pioneer will have exclusive ownership of novel insect control genes enhanced through its gene shuffling technology and the corn and soybean germplasm it develops using Athenix and Pioneer-enhanced genes.

Athenix will focus on microbial screening, molecular biology, and genomics to discover gene leads that protect corn and soybeans against destructive insect pests including corn rootworm, European corn borer, earworms, and cutworms, says the DuPont press release.