Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Monsanto Licenses ‘Gene Scissors’ Technology from Cellectis S.A

[Cellectis is a French biotech company that bears a similarity to Exelixis in its early days. I.e., Cellectis plans to use its knowhow in “ag tech” to fund an ambitious in-house drug development program.

The IP deal described in this PR is non-exclusive; although MON’s ag-tech competitors have access to the same (or similar) technology, only MON has the resources to exploit the technology to the fullest extent, IMO. The deal includes a small equity investment by MON in Cellectis.]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Monsanto-Licenses-Use-of-prnews-3684955283.html?x=0&.v=1

›Tuesday September 1, 2009, 12:00 pm EDT

ST. LOUIS and ROMAINVILLE, France, Sept. 1, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON ) today announced a non-exclusive research and commercial license agreement with France-based Cellectis S.A. (Alternext: ALCLS), a biotechnology company specialized in genome engineering, for broad use of its meganuclease technology in plants.

Meganucleases are molecular scissors that can be directed to a single site in the genome of a plant cell, thereby allowing a wide range of precise genome modifications, including gene stacking, gene knock-out as well as modulation of gene function to develop new traits. Under the agreement, Monsanto will have access to Cellectis' intellectual property on meganucleases and its custom meganuclease production platform.

Cellectis will receive an upfront payment of euro 3 million, and subject to the approval of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Cellectis' shareholders, Monsanto will make an equity investment of euro 1 million to allow Cellectis to scale the technology for agriculture. Cellectis will also be eligible to receive fees for the development of each meganuclease, success-based milestones and may receive royalties on certain traits commercialized by Monsanto. Further financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

"Being able to make precise genome modifications could enable us to advance projects even more rapidly through our R&D pipeline," said Robert Fraley, chief technology officer for Monsanto. "This technology has the potential to accelerate delivery of our ever expanding trait pipeline to farmers in the form of value-added, multi-trait products."

"This agreement with Monsanto, the leader in agricultural biotechnology, could allow our meganuclease-based genome engineering technology to be put to use in developing the next generation of quality crops," said Andre Choulika, chief executive officer of Cellectis. "The number of meganuclease users in agricultural biotechnology continues to grow. This agreement confirms our leading position in targeted gene modifications."

About Monsanto Company

Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while conserving more of our world's natural resources such as water and energy. To learn more about our business and our commitments, please visit: www.monsanto.com.

About Cellectis

Cellectis S.A. is a world leader in genome engineering and genome surgery. For more information on Cellectis, visit our website www.cellectis.com.‹