Monsanto’s R&D Pipeline Has Banner Year

Avatar for Matt Hopkins By Scott C. Lucas|5 January 2007

The company noted seven specific projects that either advanced from one phase of development to the next or that were added to the pipeline. The update also highlighted the company’s three High Impact Technology (HIT) projects.

“In the last two years, there has been positive movement in 70% of the projects in the pipeline,” said Robert Fraley, chief technology officer and executive vice president for Monsanto. “Of that advancement, almost half are from additions to the pipeline, reflecting the strength of our discovery engine and our collaborative efforts.”

The presentation outlined several key measures of progress including the three HIT projects:

  • Roundup RReady2Yield soybeans, the company’s next-generation, herbicide-tolerant technology in soybeans, moved to Phase 4. The advancement, which was based on results from breeding trials in 2006, moved the technology one step closer to commercial launch.
  • Vistive III soybeans, designed to have a similar oil profile to olive oil, met the company’s target composition profile on three of its genetic events.
  • First-generation Drought Tolerant maize continued to demonstrate yield benefits in its third year of field testing.

Other Highlights

On top of its HIT projects, Monsanto commented on a number of other new offerings in the works.

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  • Second-generation Drought Tolerant maize continued to complement the first-generation trait, with strong performance in water-stressed and broad-acre field testing.
  • Higher-Yielding maize advanced to Phase 2, with three of the company’s genetic events demonstrating yield increases from 5% to 10%.
  • Nitrogen Utilization maize technology events continued to demonstrate efficient use of nitrogen within testing environments, providing overall yield stability even as the amount of applied nitrogen decreased.
  • High-Oil soybeans, a soybean project from Monsanto’s Renessen joint venture with Cargill, advanced to Phase 3 after the technology continued to demonstrate a clear oil yield advantage compared with conventional checks.

For the latest update on Monsanto’s R&D pipeline, direct links to Fraley’s presentation slides are archived on the company’s Web site in the “Investor Information” section at www.monsanto.com.