Dow AgroSciences to develop Scottish synthetic biology company Synpromics' proprietary synthetic promoter technology as part of collaborative agreement, has already demonstrated application of technology in certain crops

Allison Oesterle

INDIANAPOLIS and EDINBURGH , October 3, 2013 (press release) – Agreement will Develop Plant Science Technology

Synpromics, the synthetic promoter company, announces an important collaboration with Dow AgroSciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), to develop Synpromics’ proprietary technology for application in plant science. An initial proof of concept project with Dow AgroSciences has commenced to demonstrate the application of Synpromics’ synthetic promoter technology in certain crops.

David Lawrence, Chairman of Synpromics, commented, “This is an important deal for the company that validates the potential value to industry of our proprietary technology. For a start-up such as Synpromics to establish this collaboration with a leading multinational is an exceptional achievement. It is also notable that this is the first time that Dow AgroSciences has partnered with a company in Scotland. Attracting the attention of Dow AgroSciences and other partners with whom we are in dialogue augurs well for the future of the company. Therefore I am extremely proud of our team. I would also like to thank Scottish Enterprise for making the initial introductions to Dow AgroSciences as well as their support during the company’s start-up phase.”

“Technologies such as those developed by Synpromics can significantly enhance Dow AgroSciences’ tool kit for developing improved crops,” said Daniel R. Kittle, Ph.D., Vice President, Research & Development, Dow AgroSciences. “Synthetic promoters in the agricultural industry have significant potential to accelerate the gene discovery and product development of new traits.”

Dr. Michael L. Roberts, CEO and Founder of Synpromics, added, “I believe that we have an important technology that can make a large contribution across both plant and human life science. We have a number of partnerships underway now and the company has been able to attract support from the Technology Strategy Board as well as gaining a SMART award from Scottish Enterprise. Our current product development projects are progressing well so I believe the company is well placed to grow quickly. To have Dow AgroSciences on board is very exciting and we look forward to working with them.”


About Synpromics

Synpromics, based in Edinburgh, UK, is a privately funded synthetic biology company that has developed a proprietary technology to optimise the design of synthetic promoters. This allows improved control of gene expression in any cell or condition of interest. The synthetic promoters produced by Synpromics will have applications in agricultural biology, life science R&D, biologics production, novel diagnostics, gene therapy and animal health. For more information visit www.synpromics.com.
About Dow AgroSciences

Dow AgroSciences, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, develops leading-edge crop protection and plant biotechnology solutions to meet the challenges of the growing world. Dow AgroSciences is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company and had annual global sales of $6.4 billion in 2012. Learn more at www.dowagro.com. Follow Dow AgroSciences on Facebook and YouTube or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed.

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