Monument Circle Acquisition Corp (MON)

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Update regarding Pioneer’s Refuge-in-a-bag....

At the Goldman Sachs Agricultural Biotech Forum today, James Borel, Executive VP with DuPont overseeing the Ag and Nutrition business, gave an update of Pioneer’s Refuge-in-a-Bag status (i.e. Optimum AcreMax).

This is the product that I think most directly challenges Monsanto’s SmartStax franchise.

The relevant quotes from his presentation were:

And the last point I will make about the – supporting the growth that we expect in 2010 is around AcreMax 1 on slide 16. While we’ve all been waiting patiently – well, perhaps not all that patiently -- but while we’ve all been waiting for regulatory approval, we understand the complexity of our ask to the EPA. I’ll remind you that we made an historic request for both refuge reduction and a blended in the bag solution. We know this is what growers want most as it’s related to refuge, and we look forward to getting a decision soon and getting this product out into the market in 2010.

I also want to discuss or address the competitive nature of the product. Market research tells us that convenience is very important related to refuge, particularly for below ground insects. Having to deal with a 5% block strip, structured refuge is not a solution, and it seems like everybody is coming around to that understanding. So that’s an important point, and we’re leading in this area. The integrated refuge in a bag is a new concept and is going to be very interesting to farmers.

Another important advantage however is our experience with the Herculex Rootworm product 59122, which is one of the key traits in this product. 59122 is the most effective BT in the market, and we’ve been working with this trait for years. We’ve learned over time how to successfully integrate this trait into a variety of backgrounds. And this makes us even more confident that AcreMax 1 and the offering is going to deliver the performance that it promises.

The 2009 pipeline showed one bar grouping all efforts under a broad umbrella called Next Generation Insect Control, which was at that time in Phase I. This year, we’ve broken that into three distinct, independently important product offerings. First is what we’ve titled Lepidopteran and Coleopteran Molecular Stack. Pioneer is creating new events for corn rootworm and corn borer control that are consistent with the Optimum AcreMax concept, and this product would ease the product assembly and offer superior performance. We haven’t selected a lead event, but the current constructs we are working with look very promising, which is why we have advanced it to Phase II or advanced development.

Turning to slide 19, I will give you a quick update on AcreMax 2. I talked about the ultimate convenience AcreMax 2 will provide to growers by eliminating separate block-stripped structured refuge, but here again, we are providing choices, as well. Our plan for AcreMax 2 include two versions, an offering for above ground as well as an above and below ground offering, matching the specific needs that farmers have. Regulatory approval of AcreMax 1 is a key step towards approval of AcreMax 2, and we expect at this point to introduce it for the 2012 growing season. We are on track with our regulatory strategy to support a 2012 introduction.