DuPont And Bayer CropScience Expand Collaboration With Broad License Agreements

Wilmington, DE and Monheim, Germany /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DuPont (NYSE: DD) and Bayer CropScience have entered into a series of long-term business agreements related to key plant biotechnology traits and enabling technologies that will help increase agricultural productivity around the world.

These agreements create significant value capture opportunities for both parties through herbicide and seed sales as well as royalties. The agreements establish cross-licenses that will enable next generation seed solutions and weed and insect control strategies from Bayer CropScience and the DuPont Crop Protection and Pioneer Hi-Bred businesses. The agreements also resolve outstanding legal and patent disputes between the companies in the area of insect control and herbicide safeners.

"These agreements are good news for farmers who will benefit from the cross-licensing of innovative technologies from both companies," said James C. Borel, DuPont group vice president. "DuPont and Bayer have a strong history of working together, and these agreements set the stage for additional collaboration between the two companies."

"Growers will benefit worldwide from new herbicide products, new multi-insect-control and multi-herbicide-tolerant products in corn as well as multi-herbicide-tolerant products in soybeans," said Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Berschauer, chairman of the board of management of Bayer CropScience. "For Bayer CropScience, the agreements provide an excellent basis to further extend the reach and value capture through royalties for our proprietary biotech solutions."

Within the framework of these agreements, Bayer CropScience grants Pioneer licenses to use the LibertyLink® trademark in Pioneer proprietary corn and soybean germplasm. In addition, Bayer CropScience will provide Pioneer with worldwide regulatory support for Pioneer products comprising the LibertyLink® trait. The company also enables Pioneer to use the glufosinate-tolerance technology in soybean product development.

In the area of insect resistance, Bayer CropScience provides Pioneer with licenses under its Dual Bt patents, with limited rights to grant sublicenses for development of next generation insect resistance management in corn.

As part of the agreements, Bayer CropScience grants DuPont Crop Protection rights to continue to offer its DuPont™ Q product formulations containing the Bayer herbicide safener isoxadifen. These corn postemergence herbicides provide growers with improved crop safety. DuPont also receives rights to offer blends of isoxadifen with certain defined HPPD herbicides and its sulfonylurea herbicides as well as licenses that will enable DuPont to introduce a broad class of future crop protection product offerings.

A number of other cross-licenses on enabling technologies between the two companies also are included in the agreements. Further details of the agreements were not disclosed.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 6.4 billion (2008), is one of the world's leading innovative cropscience companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global work force of more than 18,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.press.bayercropscience.com.

DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation. Further information is available at: www.dupont.com

Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements as a result of future developments or new information. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the company's strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures and financial results are forward-looking statements. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "projects," "indicates," and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, including those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in DuPont's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly its latest annual report on Form 10-K, as well as others, could cause results to differ materially from those stated. These factors include, but are not limited to changes in the laws, regulations, policies and economic conditions of countries in which the company does business; competitive pressures; successful integration of structural changes, including acquisitions, divestitures and alliances; research and development of new products, including regulatory approval and market acceptance, and seasonality of sales of agricultural products.

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LibertyLink® is a registered trademark of Bayer CropScience.

SOURCE DuPont