• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Monsanto Teams up With Industry Leaders in Protein Design Software Development

Posted on: Thursday, 11 June 2009, 07:00 CDT

New Collaboration Could Help Shorten Project Timelines for Agricultural Biotechnology Products

ST. LOUIS and PASADENA, Calif., June 11, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) and Pasadena-based Protabit LLC, today announced a two-year collaboration to develop new tools for protein design and optimization.

All organisms produce a diverse set of proteins to express characteristic attributes, which in plants can include tolerance to drought and pests. Monsanto agricultural biotechnology researchers use high-throughput protein design and optimization technologies to rapidly design more effective proteins to confer beneficial traits in crops.

Development of improved software tools for protein design and optimization can help shorten the product discovery process. This would enable Monsanto to more quickly identify pipeline gene candidates in support of the company's sustainability goal of doubling yields in its core crops of corn, cotton, and soybeans by 2030, compared to a base year of 2000.

"We believe that utilizing state-of-the-art protein design software, coupled with our high-throughput gene synthesis and protein purification platforms, will further strengthen our R&D pipeline and maintain Monsanto's leadership in the field of biotech crops," said Steve Padgette, vice president of biotechnology for Monsanto. "The partnership with Protabit will help Monsanto stay on the leading edge of innovation and ensure that farmers continue to have access to valuable traits as quickly as possible, so that they can continue to boost on-farm productivity. We are excited by the opportunity to work closely with the Protabit team to accelerate our unique approach to high-throughput protein design pioneered by our research teams in Cambridge, Massachusetts and St. Louis."

Protabit is a start-up company founded by Stephen Mayo, PhD, of the California Institute of Technology and Homme Hellinga, PhD, of Duke University. Both are leaders in the field of computational protein design and expect the software created by Protabit to have broad applicability as a protein improvement and discovery tool in biotechnology.

"Recent advances in protein sequence design coupled to robotic expression of proteins will dramatically improve the efficacy of computational protein design methodology," Mayo said. "We look forward to collaborating with Monsanto on both the development of new methodology and its application to protein design projects that lead to new and/or improved products in the ag biotech arena."

Under the agreement:

• Protabit will develop new software code to integrate computational approaches for protein optimization allowing for exchange of information across platforms thus providing more flexibility and easier assimilation of new breakthroughs, speeding up the process of protein design and optimization.
• Protabit will also work on developing new computational approaches for protein optimization.

Monsanto will have exclusive rights to tools developed by Protabit for use in the fields of plant improvement and agriculture.

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 Protabit LLC

Protabit LLC is a recently formed company focused on integrating existing computational protein design methods and developing the next generation of protein design software. This next generation of software will include recent advances in multi-state design, protein library design, and the use of novel hardware such as graphics processing units (GPUs) for ultra high-performance computing.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information:

Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements, such as statements concerning the company's future product performance, regulatory approvals, business and financial plans and other non-historical facts. These statements are based on current expectations and currently available information. However, since these statements are based on factors that involve risks and uncertainties, the company's actual performance and results may differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, among others: the success of the companies' research and development activities; the costs of and the companies' abilities to access and enforce intellectual property needed for the collaboration; the costs and requirements of regulatory compliance and the speed with which approvals are received; public acceptance of biotechnology products; and other risks and factors detailed in the company's most recent periodic report to the SEC. Undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which are current only as of the date of this presentation. The company disclaims any current intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements or any of the factors that may affect actual results.

Contacts Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair, Monsanto (314-694-4490) Barry Olafson, Protabit (626-844-7348)

SOURCE Monsanto Company

Source: PR Newswire

More News in this Category