Licensing opportunities

Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. has established an extensive portfolio of biotech traits and know-how for crop enhancement. The traits are patent protected and available for license on a worldwide basis for commercial application in a range of crops. These intellectual property assets derive from an approximately 17-year R&D program (1998 – 2014) during which Mendel conducted a genome-wide functional analysis of plant transcription factors. The work was performed in close collaboration with leading industry partners, including Monsanto Company, which enabled many of the discoveries to be proven-out and developed in extensive field trials across a spectrum of crops, including the major row crops.

Trait Patents Available for License
Mendel's R&D program was a technical success: to date, it has resulted in transgenic events for three different transcription factor-based technologies being submitted for regulatory approvals in the United States. These comprise submissions by Monsanto for high yielding soybean and corn events and a dossier filed by ArborGen for cold tolerant Eucalyptus. Mendel is now seeking new partners to commercialize its trait technologies in additional crops beyond the major row crops. Key new targets include: specialty oil crops, bioenergy crops, millet, certain forage grasses, sorghum and sugar beet, as well as various fruits and emerging high value specialty crops including cannabis and stevia.

The Mendel portfolio currently comprises more than 50 granted patents and pending applications covering the use of more 30 families of transcription factors. In many instances, the claimed functions have been demonstrated to be highly conserved across diverse plant species, and independently validated in refereed publications by academic researchers. The technologies being offered are therefore mature, relatively low risk, and are expected to be readily applicable to a multitude of crops. The available traits comprise a variety of applications including: increased grain yield, increased biomass yield, altered biochemical and nutritional composition, drought tolerance, cold tolerance, enhanced nutrient use efficiency, improved growth and vigor, modified morphology and growth habit, modified flowering time and disease tolerance. An appropriate package of transcription factors and trait applications can be tailored to meet customer needs for each specific crop of interest.

Partners Sought for Development of Next Generation Crop Traits informed by Mendel’s Know-How
In addition to the patented traits, Mendel owns a large database comprising the results from its functional genomics screens, and later development work with Monsanto Company, on plant transcription factors and the gene networks they regulate. This know-how was created over a period of about 17 years with a heavy dollar investment and is very well organized into easily minable reports. Various restrictions of prior agreements, which limited Mendel’s ability to share the information and work with third parties, have now expired. The datasets cannot be readily recapitulated and provide a powerful roadmap for targeted development of new genetic traits, including through gene editing, and with applicability across all crops. Mendel has recently filed a new patent application covering these applications and we are looking for specialist partners who are interested in developing and commercializing the next generation of traits in specific crops.