LemnaGene LLC announced that license agreements have been concluded with Bayer CropScience and Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd. to support its Lemnaceae based recombinant protein production platform. The Bayer license provides a full range of enabling technologies for the production of biotherapeutics, nutraceuticals, industrial enzymes and cosmeceuticals in transgenic Lemnaceae (a plant also known as duckweed). The Yeda agreement provides for an exclusive license of the results of a long-term research program at the Weizmann Institute of Science and a license to Lemnaceae know-how and technologies developed by Weizmann scientists.

It also includes an exclusive license on pending patents on Lemnaceae transformation filed in several countries and recently approved in Australia. LemnaGene is now positioned to establish a dominant role in the industrial use of Lemnaceae due to its intellectual property portfolio and the industrial agreements that have been concluded so far. With these in place, LemnaGene is moving forward with its first round of financing and the establishment of its operations in Lyon (France).

Professor Marvin Edelman of the Department of Plant Sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science commented, "Following over twenty five years of research on Lemnaceae at the Weizmann Institute by my group, and several years of joint research with Bayer CropScience, we are very pleased that the commercial development phase will be managed by LemnaGene. We believe that now is the right time to launch such a business."

John W. Power, Chairman, LemnaGene LLC, commented, "LemnaGene has now completed the formation of its basic technology platform and is ready to move forward with the development of product based applications for the pharmaceutical, vaccine, nutraceutical and industrial markets. We are planning to establish initial operations in Europe where the current environment is highly supportive of such a business."