CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and
JOHNSTON, Iowa, Oct. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DuPont Pioneer and
the Broad Institute of MIT and
Harvard announced today that they have
reached an agreement to jointly provide non-exclusive licenses to
foundational CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property under their
respective control for use in commercial agricultural research and
product development. These two major CRISPR-Cas9 license holders
are coming together with the shared goal of enabling all entities
wanting to apply the technology for agricultural applications with
a full range of CRISPR-Cas9 tools. Such foundational intellectual
property (IP) for CRISPR-Cas9 technology will be freely available
to universities and nonprofit organizations for academic research.
Pioneer is a business unit of the Agriculture Division of
DowDuPont™.
"The promise of CRISPR-Cas9 technology in the hands of many will
result in a wide array of benefits for the global food supply
ranging from higher and more stable yields of grains, fruits and
vegetables for farmers; more nutritious, healthier and affordable
foods for consumers; and, improved sustainability of agricultural
systems for society," said Neal
Gutterson, vice president of Research & Development at
DuPont Pioneer. "It is profoundly important to ensure that this
technology is made widely available for agriculture. By partnering
with the Broad Institute, together we can maximize access to
CRISPR-Cas9 around the world for the greater good."
"When DuPont Pioneer initially approached us to secure a license
for commercial research, we both saw a unique opportunity to
provide much broader access to the technology for agriculture,"
said Eric Lander, president and
founding director of the Broad Institute. "We applaud DuPont
Pioneer for its commitment to advancing research and
commercialization to accelerate progress in agriculture."
The complex CRISPR licensing landscape includes patents and
patent applications from multiple parties. Entities often desire
access to comprehensive IP, to ensure their ability to apply the
scientific tools as widely as possible. To enable such access,
Pioneer and Broad Institute have agreed on a joint non-exclusive
licensing framework for agricultural use that (i) continues to
provide non-exclusive access to IP from Broad Institute co-owned
with its collaborators (including Harvard
University, the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, New York Genome Center, New York University, The
Rockefeller University, and the University of Iowa), and (ii) provides
non-exclusive access to foundational IP from Pioneer and to IP from
the licenses that Pioneer gained access through Caribou
Biosciences, ERS Genomics and Vilnius University. License
limitations exclude certain CRISPR technology applications,
including for gene drive or tobacco products for human use.
Broad and Pioneer continue to retain the right to grant
independent, non-exclusive licenses for the CRISPR-Cas9 IP that
each institution controls to any interested entity.
To inquire about a license, commercial users should email
Pioneer at openinnovation@pioneer.com or visit the Broad website or
contact licensing@broadinstitute.org. Academic and nonprofit
researchers do not require a license to use the technology for
research.
Learn more about CRISPR-Cas applications in agriculture at
http://crisprcas.pioneer.com
Learn more about the Broad Institute's efforts to offer CRISPR
tools for agriculture on the Broad website.
About the Broad Institute of MIT
and Harvard
Broad Institute of
MIT and Harvard was launched in 2004 to empower this
generation of creative scientists to transform medicine. The Broad
Institute seeks to describe all the molecular components of life
and their connections; discover the molecular basis of major human
diseases; develop effective new approaches to diagnostics and
therapeutics; and disseminate discoveries, tools, methods, and data
openly to the entire scientific community.
Founded by MIT, Harvard, Harvard-affiliated hospitals, and the visionary
Los Angeles philanthropists
Eli and Edythe L. Broad, the Broad
Institute includes faculty, professional staff, and students from
throughout the MIT and Harvard biomedical research communities and beyond,
with collaborations spanning over a hundred private and public
institutions in more than 40 countries worldwide. For further
information about the Broad Institute, go to
http://www.broadinstitute.org/.
About DuPont Pioneer
DuPont Pioneer, a business unit
of DowDuPont Agriculture Division, is the world's leading developer
and supplier of advanced plant genetics, providing high-quality
seeds to farmers in more than 90 countries. Pioneer provides
agronomic support and services to help increase farmer productivity
and profitability and strives to develop sustainable agricultural
systems for people everywhere. Science with Service Delivering
Success®.
About DowDuPont Agriculture Division
DowDuPont
Agriculture, a business division of DowDuPont (NYSE: DWDP),
combines the strengths of DuPont Pioneer, DuPont Crop Protection
and Dow AgroSciences. Together, the Agriculture division provides
growers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the
industry, developed through a robust research pipeline across
germplasm, biotech traits and crop protection. DowDuPont
Agriculture is committed to delivering innovation, helping growers
increase productivity and ensuring food security for a growing
global population. DowDuPont intends to separate the Agriculture
division into an independent, publicly traded company. More
information can be found at www.dow-dupont.com.
Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking
Statements
This communication contains "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws,
including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected
future business and financial performance and financial condition,
and often contain words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend,"
"plan," "believe," "seek," "see," "will," "would," "target,"
similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these
words.
On December 11, 2015, The Dow
Chemical Company ("Dow") and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
("DuPont") announced entry into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, as
amended on March 31, 2017, (the
"Merger Agreement") under which the companies would combine in an
all-stock merger of equals transaction (the "Merger Transaction").
Effective August 31, 2017, the Merger
Transaction was completed and each of Dow and DuPont became
subsidiaries of DowDuPont Inc. ("DowDuPont"). For more information,
please see each of DowDuPont's, Dow's and DuPont's latest annual,
quarterly and current reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, as the
case may be, and the joint proxy statement/prospectus included in
the registration statement on Form S-4 filed by DowDuPont with the
SEC on March 1, 2016 (File No.
333-209869), as last amended on June 7,
2016, and declared effective by the SEC on June 9, 2016 (the "Registration Statement") in
connection with the Merger Transaction.
Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that
are, to different degrees, uncertain, including the intended
separation of DowDuPont's agriculture, materials science and
specialty products businesses in one or more tax efficient
transactions on anticipated terms (the "Intended Business
Separations"). Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of
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Forward-looking statements also involve risks and uncertainties,
many of which are beyond the company's control. Some of the
important factors that could cause DowDuPont's, Dow's or DuPont's
actual results to differ materially from those projected in any
such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:
(i) successful integration of the respective agriculture, materials
science and specialty products businesses of Dow and DuPont,
including anticipated tax treatment, unforeseen liabilities, future
capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, productivity
actions, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition,
losses, future prospects, business and management strategies for
the management, expansion and growth of the combined operations;
(ii) impact of the divestitures required as a condition to
consummation of the Merger Transaction as well as other conditional
commitments; (iii) achievement of the anticipated synergies by
DowDuPont's agriculture, materials science and specialty products
businesses; (iv) risks associated with the Intended Business
Separations, including those that may result from the comprehensive
portfolio review undertaken by the DowDuPont board, changes and
timing, including a number of conditions which could delay, prevent
or otherwise adversely affect the proposed transactions, including
possible issues or delays in obtaining required regulatory
approvals or clearances related to the Intended Business
Separations, disruptions in the financial markets or other
potential barriers; (v) the risk that disruptions from the Intended
Business Separations will harm DowDuPont's business (either
directly or as conducted by and through Dow or DuPont), including
current plans and operations; (vi) the ability to retain and hire
key personnel; (vii) potential adverse reactions or changes to
business relationships resulting from the completion of the merger
or the Intended Business Separations; (viii) uncertainty as to the
long-term value of DowDuPont common stock; (ix) continued
availability of capital and financing and rating agency actions;
(x) legislative, regulatory and economic developments; (xi)
potential business uncertainty, including changes to existing
business relationships, during the pendency of the Intended
Business Separations that could affect the company's financial
performance and (xii) unpredictability and severity of catastrophic
events, including, but not limited to, acts of terrorism or
outbreak of war or hostilities, as well as management's response to
any of the aforementioned factors. These risks, as well as other
risks associated with the merger and the Intended Business
Separations, are more fully discussed in (1) the Registration
Statement and (2) the current, periodic and annual reports filed
with the SEC by DowDuPont and to the extent incorporated by
reference into the Registration Statement, by Dow and DuPont. While
the list of factors presented here is, and the list of factors
presented in the Registration Statement are, considered
representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete
statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted
factors may present significant additional obstacles to the
realization of forward-looking statements. Consequences of material
differences in results as compared with those anticipated in the
forward-looking statements could include, among other things,
business disruption, operational problems, financial loss, legal
liability to third parties and similar risks, any of which could
have a material adverse effect on DowDuPont's, Dow's or DuPont's
consolidated financial condition, results of operations, credit
rating or liquidity. None of DowDuPont, Dow or DuPont assumes any
obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any
forward-looking statements regarding the proposed transaction and
intended business separations, whether as a result of new
information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances
change, except as otherwise required by securities and other
applicable laws.
10/18/17
®, ™, SM Trademarks and service marks of DuPont, Pioneer
or their respective owners.
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SOURCE Broad Institute