Monsanto, ToolGen Sign Licensing Agreement for CRISPR Technology

Monsanto Company (MON) and ToolGen Inc, a biotechnology company specializing in genome editing, have reached a global licensing agreement for the use of ToolGen’s CRISPR technology platform to develop agricultural products.

ToolGen is an early pioneer in gene editing research. The license provides Monsanto with access to ToolGen’s comprehensive suite of CRISPR intellectual property for use in plants. This agreement further expands Monsanto’s broad portfolio of gene-editing tools that can be used to develop improved and sustainable crops.

The companies noted that gene-editing technologies, like CRISPR, offer agriculture researchers significant advantages over existing plant breeding and biotechnology methods due to their versatility and efficiency, and will allow Monsanto to provide farmers with solutions to problems that have been previously unaddressed.

“We are excited to bring ToolGen’s CRISPR platform on board at Monsanto and are continuing to bolster and diversify our capabilities in this field of research. As a company, we remain committed to the development of safe, sustainable and high-quality crops, and look forward to leveraging the CRISPR platform as we endeavour to meet the needs of farmers while answering consumer demand for food options,” said Tom Adams, PhD, vice president of biotechnology for Monsanto.

“We look forward to working with Monsanto to build new and exciting opportunities in agriculture. This agreement further validates our platform and demonstrates the value that gene editing will hold for the future of both agriculture and biotechnology,” added Jongmoon Kim, CEO of ToolGen.