Devgen

Devgen innovates in crop protection research and environment induced stress tolerance for its own crops and provides technology to corporate partners. Since 1997, Devgen has conducted pioneering research in RNAi-based crop protection applications and has developed enabling technology, RNAi sprays and RNAi-based biotech traits for itself and on behalf of corporate partners. Devgen is shaping the field of hybrid rice in India and Southeast Asia and helps farmers meet the productivity increases needed to grow more food on less land using less water, labour and agro-chemicals. Thereto, Devgen uses advanced biotechnology and molecular breeding technology to develop the Next Generation Hybrid Rice (NGHR™) seeds: Devgen develops the next generation of hybrid rice, improving yield, seed productivity, grain quality, and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress factors. Devgen strongly believes that this hybrid rice technology has the potential to drive the accelerated conversion of conventional rice to hybrid rice. Anticipating the need to increase insect resistance and drought/heat tolerance in rice to a level that is beyond what can be achieved with traditional breeding, Devgen creates a portfolio of biotech traits using own technology as well as in-licensed technologies. Devgen established an integrated seed business in India and Southeast Asia through which its rice crops and technologies reach the market. In India, Devgen complemented its hybrid rice business with geographically and seasonally complementary crops: hybrid sorghum, pearl millet and sunflower. In its Crop Protection unit, Devgen developed a novel nematicide, an agro-chemical product that protects crops from damage by parasitic nematodes and has superior environmental and worker exposure profile compared to existing solutions. This product is currently sold in Turkey and was recently introduced on the market in the US. Incorporated in 1997, Devgen has offices in Ghent (Belgium), and has subsidiaries in Singapore, Hyderabad (India), Yogyakarta (Indonesia), General Santos (the Philippines) and Delaware (US), totaling over 250 staff. Key in enabling these discoveries is the company's ability to model these complex human diseases involving multiple organs and complex physiological processes in the model organism C. elegans in combination with the company's associated RNAi knockdown technology. Metabolic diseases and their complications (diabetes, obesity and arrhythmia) are an important and growing disease area representing significant unmet medical needs in which the pharmaceutical industry seeks to strengthen its preclinical and clinical pipelines, paying premium prices due to the scarcity of novel concepts and programs. Devgen believes that it should be in a position to out-license some of its programs in this area to potential partners within the next 12 to 24 months. In the event an out-licensing agreement is effectively put in place, this could provide a substantial upside for the company.