Bayer Innovation GmbH (BIG), a subsidiary of the Bayer Group engaged in developing new fields of business, has acquired Icon Genetics AG, a biotech company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Icon Genetics discovers innovative methods for the development and use of engineered plants. Bayer and Icon Genetics are already cooperating on research.

According to the company release, the acquisition will strengthen Bayer's activities aimed at producing specific pharmaceutical substances in plants (plant-made pharmaceuticals, or PMPs). This technology utilizes the natural protein production processes in plants as a way of producing therapeutically active substances.

Icon Genetics, established in 1999 and financed by venture capital from IBG Beteiligungsgesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt mbH, CFH GmbH, KfW-Bankengruppe and BioM AG, has sites in Halle and Munich. The company is engaged in developing processes for the biotechnological production of biopharmaceuticals and other high-value products in plants. The results of this activity are reflected in a total of more than 40 patents granted or applied for.

Bayer Innovation GmbH (BIG), headquartered in Düsseldorf, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer AG. BIG evaluates and develops new fields of business for the Bayer Group that are in line with Bayer's core competencies of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials and complement its current key areas of innovation and business.