NEW HAVEN, Conn.--CuraGen and DuPont Agricultural Enterprise have signed a collaborative research agreement to explore the application of genomics to enhance the discovery and development of crop protection products.
"We believe that genomics will accelerate DuPont's effort to discover and develop novel, environmentally safe crop-protection products with optimal specificity for target organisms," said Elmo Beyer, DuPont Agricultural's vice-president for global research and development.
Under the agreement, CuraGen will use its suite of proprietary processes, technologies, and bioinformatics to elucidate and characterize the genetic components and metabolic pathways underlying the action of a new DuPont crop protection product. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Greg Went, executive vice president and cofounder of Cura Gen, said that because of the company's association with Pioneer Hi-Bred, "the potential exists for world-class synergy. Each party brings re sources, complementary knowledge, and experience in chemistry, genetics, and genomics technology that are unsurpassed in the industry."
DuPont Agricultural includes crop protection, feed, seed, food ingredient, and food safety businesses, with sales of $2.6 billion in 1997.
CuraGen completed an initial public offering in March.