Monsanto Company today announced a non-exclusive research and commercial license agreement with France-based Cellectis S.A., a biotechnology company specialized in genome engineering, for broad use of its meganuclease technology in plants.
ST. LOUIS & ROMAINVILLE, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) today announced a non-exclusive research and commercial license agreement with France-based Cellectis S.A. (Paris: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 €3 million, and subject to the approval of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Cellectis’ shareholders, Monsanto will make an equity investment of €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 André 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 S.A.
Cellectis
SA is a world leader in genome engineering and genome surgery. The
company focuses on developing and producing custom meganucleases for use
in vivo genome surgery addressing the therapeutic, agricultural
biotechnology, biomanufacturing and research sectors. Worldwide,
Cellectis has entered into more than 50 agreements with major players in
the pharmaceutical, biotech and agricultural biotechnology industries
and has over 20 collaborations with academic research groups. Since its
incorporation, Cellectis has raised over 50 million in both equity
operations and public financing and is listed on the NYSE-Euronext
Alternext market (ticker code: ALCLS). For more information on
Cellectis, visit our website: www.cellectis.com
