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Pairwise, a technology company pioneering gene editing to improve plant breeding in specialty and commodity crops, has closed a $40M Series C funding round led by Deerfield Management. Multiple returning investors, including Aliment Capital and Leaps by Bayer, are joined by new investor and global ag technology leader Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA), through its Corteva Catalyst platform, further signaling the promise and anticipated benefits of gene editing in agricultural applications.
Delivering Transformative Improvements in Food and Agriculture
Investments from this funding round will be used to scale Pairwise’s innovative product pipeline, including seedless berries and pitless cherries, as well as advance its industry-leading Fulcrum™ Platform. Pairwise’s new seedless blackberry variety, announced in June, will deliver an improved eating experience for consumers and, in concert with compact architecture and thornless traits, bring added benefits to farm workers, growers, and the environment as well.
“We started Pairwise in the early days of CRISPR to accelerate innovation across agriculture, enabling the cultivation of crops that are more adaptive to climate change, and more nutritious and convenient for consumers, all while bolstering grower economics,” said Tom Adams, Pairwise Co-Founder and CEO. “This new investment will enable us to expand the impact of our proprietary Fulcrum Platform as we continue to lead this transformation with our proven ability to deliver novel solutions that address the most pressing challenges in agriculture today.”
“Using their novel tools, Pairwise has delivered game-changing edits in plant varieties across consumer and big-acre crops in just a few short years,” said Cam Wheeler, Partner at Deerfield Management and Pairwise Chairman of the Board. “We believe that the precision, speed, and safety of gene editing is poised to transform agriculture, and our ongoing investment reflects our confidence in Pairwise as the clear leader in this space.”
Corteva Chief Technology and Digital Officer Sam Eathington said, “We view gene editing as a critical solution to drive climate resilience across agriculture and global food systems. Pairwise is an obvious choice for our investment to help accelerate innovation through gene editing in fruit, vegetables, and specialty crops. And as leaders in gene editing ourselves, Corteva’s ultimate aim is to work with Pairwise to unlock the impact of this technology to help solve climate challenges and produce the food, fiber and fuel required to meet the needs of a growing global population.”
In parallel to Corteva’s equity investment in Pairwise, the two companies have entered into a five-year joint venture collaboration that will focus on accelerating the pace of gene edited technologies and developing improved products that are more resilient to future climate conditions.
Corteva’s investment in Pairwise is being made through Corteva Catalyst, the company’s new investment and partnership platform launched to boost agricultural R&D and sustainable food production innovations.
Trailblazing a New Era in Accelerated Innovation
Pairwise was founded by proven business leaders, preeminent experts, and inventors of early gene-editing technologies. Using industry-leading knowledge of plant genetics, a broad suite of CRISPR tools, and high-impact editing techniques like multiplexing, Pairwise has delivered multiple products with differentiated plant genetics across significant crops, including corn, soy, wheat, canola, leafy greens, blackberries, and more. As one of the only companies in this space to launch commercially viable products to date, Pairwise introduced the first CRISPR food to North America – a blend of superfood mustard greens that eat like lettuce, edited to dial down the wasabi-like pungency for people looking for healthier salad options than what are available in the marketplace today. After laying the important commercial groundwork, the company entered into an exclusive product licensing agreement with Bayer to further develop and sell 10 varieties of Pairwise-edited greens at scale, and to develop and breed for new varieties with the technology. Additionally, after delivering 27 novel traits to Bayer’s pipeline under an initial five-year partnership, the two companies entered a second, multi-year collaboration to focus on developing a gene-edited version of short-stature corn to offer farmers better protection for their crops given improved sustainability in high winds and challenging weather conditions, better access during the season, and higher yields.
The Pairwise Fulcrum™ Platform includes company-developed gene editing tools for cutting, base editing, and templated editing – a toolbox that enables not only turning a characteristic on or off, like removing a plant’s thorns to enable easier fruit harvesting, but also “tuning” it – like a dimmer switch to dial a trait up or down, such as creating a new type of corn with up to 20% more kernel rows. Using Pairwise’s novel editing tools, scientists can precisely tailor a wide range of genetic variation to develop new, distinctive plant varieties much faster and more effectively than through conventional breeding. In concert with its industry-leading tools, Pairwise’s intellectual property enables a straightforward path to product commercialization.
"Our technology licensing agreements provide secured IP and increase shareholder value. And our proprietary suite of technologies – our Fulcrum Platform – is enabling us to unlock transformative improvements in global agriculture,” added Adams. “Our product-development partnerships with global agriculture leaders, Corteva and Bayer, underscored by investments from both Corteva Catalyst and Leaps by Bayer, are an incredible validation of our technology and an important signal that gene editing will play a major role in improving agriculture innovation moving forward.”
Institutions interested in learning about Pairwise investment or licensing opportunities may contact the company at www.Pairwise.com.
About Pairwise:
Pairwise is pioneering the application of gene editing technology in food and agriculture. The company brings together leaders in agriculture and tech to harness transformative genomic technologies to create innovative new products that benefit society. Pairwise is working to develop new varieties of fruits, vegetables, and large-acre crops, and to partner with organizations that seek to deliver innovation across the plant-based economy. Backed by industry leading investors Deerfield, Aliment Capital, Leaps by Bayer, Temasek, and Corteva Catalyst, Pairwise raised $40 million in a successful funding round in September 2024, bringing total fundraising to $155 million. The company was co-founded by the company’s CEO Dr. Tom Adams and agriculture innovator Dr. Haven Baker, with scientific co-founders J. Keith Joung, Lead Translator at Arena BioWorks; David Liu, Director of the Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, and Vice-Chair of the Faculty at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; and Feng Zhang, McGovern Investigator and a professor at MIT. For more information, visit Pairwise.com, and learn more about the differentiating Pairwise Fulcrum™ Platform here.
Pairwise has entered a landmark licensing agreement with the non-profit, international agricultural research organization CIMMYT to provide access to its Fulcrum™ gene editing platform, including the advanced SHARC™ CRISPR enzyme. This partnership will accelerate the development of improved crop varieties for smallholder farmers across 20 countries where CIMMYT implements integrated research and development initiatives.
CIMMYT, based in Mexico and operating in 88 countries, is a key member of the CGIAR network and a global leader in developing sustainable solutions for food and climate security. Under the license, CIMMYT and its National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) partners will have access to Fulcrum tools in crops including maize, wheat, sorghum, and regionally important staples like pearl millet, finger millet, pigeon pea, and groundnut.
“Advanced breeding techniques replicate what happens in nature in a faster, more focused way. We’re excited to have access to a gene editing technology that allows us to not only develop new traits but also make these traits available to farmers who can benefit from them,” said Sarah Hearne, Chief Science and Innovation Officer at CIMMYT. “CIMMYT is committed to bringing new technologies to smallholder farmers in the Global South, which aims to enhance resilience and nutritional characteristics of crops and help develop livelihoods and communities. Fulcrum will speed up the delivery of the climate resilient varieties that farmers urgently need.”
The Fulcrum™ Platform includes Pairwise-developed gene editing tools for cutting, base editing, and templated editing a toolbox which enables not only turning a characteristic on or off but also tuning it — like a dimmer switch to tailor the trait and deliver the optimum phenotype.
“Our Fulcrum Platform was built to help scientists solve urgent, real-world challenges in agriculture,” said Ian Miller, Chief Operating Officer at Pairwise. “This agreement allows CIMMYT to use our powerful CRISPR tools to deliver real-world improvements for farmers facing food insecurity and climate pressure. We outlicense to organizations like CIMMYT because Pairwise believes this transformative technology should be broadly available to those working to improve agriculture for smallholder farmers.”
Gene editing enables precision improvements in crop yield, resilience, and nutrition that could be achieved through conventional breeding but were impractical due to time and cost constraints. By making these powerful tools more accessible, this partnership accelerates impactful innovation in regions where food system improvements are most urgently needed. Through CIMMYT’s research network, these tools will be deployed in diverse environments, providing researchers with a flexible alternative for product development and a clear pathway to real-world impact.
About Pairwise
Pairwise is agriculture’s leading gene editing powerhouse, building a healthier world through partnership and plant innovation. Co-founded by the inventors of CRISPR, our Fulcrum™ Platform accelerates the development of climate-resilient, nutritious, and sustainable crops. As trusted partners to global industry leaders and nonprofit institutions, we help breeders move faster while transforming food and agriculture for farmers, consumers, and the planet. Founded in 2017 and based in Durham, NC, Pairwise is committed to delivering innovation that makes food easier to grow — and better to eat.
About CIMMYT
CIMMYT is a cutting-edge, non-profit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrow's problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, through building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers while working towards a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries. For more information, visit www.cimmyt.org.
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Agriculture is often cited as a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change. With a global population slated to reach ten billion by 2050, we are faced with the enormous challenge of growing more food that will sustain and nourish our population, while at the same time lessening the negative environmental impacts of agriculture—two challenges often at odds. However, technological innovations like gene editing can also play a role in helping us tackle these epic challenges in tandem.
The Pairwise-Bayer Crop Science collaboration is using innovative approaches to gene editing tools to improve row crop agriculture, in addition to the work that Pairwise is leading in fruits and vegetables. The 2022 growing season was unlike any other for the Pairwise-Bayer Crop Science partnership as we trialed a record number of corn and soy entries that stand to offer a sustainability advantage.
“We’re able to apply the tools of gene editing to bring in new traits that offer growers the ability to grow more with less,” said Ryan Rapp, Chief Technology Officer at Pairwise. “If we can produce more kernels on an ear of corn or protect more crops from disease, that means more output using fewer resources like land and water.”
“We are committed to doing our part to help achieve the UN’s sustainable development goals by 2030,” said Rick Lawrence, Head of Gene Editing, Yield, Disease, and Quality Research at Bayer Crop Science. “Our growers are some of the most engaged stewards of the land. They want to do the right thing, and gene editing offers us more tools to provide them so they can help meet the needs of people and the planet.”
The team planted a record number of gene edited trials this growing season—a number never before seen in the industry. The speed and efficiency of the Pairwise editing platform means both farmers and consumers could see the benefits of these new varieties within this decade.
“It’s a great partnership,” Rapp. “We’re able to apply our leading gene editing platform to extensive row crop germplasm to achieve a portfolio of novel sustainability traits.”
“It’s a win-win-win,” said Lawrence. “A win for the partners and a win for global agriculture. The pressures that climate change and other geopolitical issues will have on global agriculture are clear, and the work that Pairwise and Bayer are undertaking today will directly benefit our future food systems.
Pairwise, a food tech company, and Plant Sciences, Inc. (PSI), a leading berry breeder and agricultural research company, today announced a collaboration to offer exciting new types of berries for people looking for variety in their produce choices. Teams will focus on black and red raspberries, as well as blackberries.
“At Pairwise, we want to make healthy eating easier,” said Pairwise CEO Tom Adams. “Now, more than ever, people are focused on their food options and looking for ways to make healthy choices at home. Through the collaboration with PSI, we are moving from science partnerships to product partnerships that will bring new berries to market.”
Pairwise will use its unique gene editing capabilities, and access to critically important germplasm provided by PSI, to improve taste and convenience, as well as increase shelf-life and off-season availability of berries. This collaboration builds on a unique public/private partnership Pairwise and PSI previously established with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and several leading academic institutions to identify diverse, novel types of berries that are not broadly bred for commercial sale today.
For example, black raspberries today have a limited growing season and are not widely available to American consumers. These berries, which naturally have five times more antioxidants than blueberries, could be made broadly available with breeding updates that expand growing seasons enabling year-round production.
“Building on decades of successful berry breeding experience, we will work with Pairwise to identify and advance innovation that will benefit the berry landscape,” said PSI’s Chief Executive Officer Steve Nelson. “This partnership will afford us the opportunity to bring to consumers novel and natural superfoods that were previously out of reach.”
As part of the collaboration, PSI will use their commercial nurseries to grow plantlets for these new improved varieties. Pairwise and PSI will ultimately license farmers to plant, grow and produce these new types of berries.
“Berries are one of the fastest growing produce categories in the United States, but this is largely concentrated on just a few varieties. Imagine having dozens of new berry varieties that offer more choice and flavor in healthy food options,” said Pairwise Chief Business Officer Haven Baker. “By combining Pairwise’s gene editing capabilities and PSI’s germplasm and industry expertise, we will bring better, more sustainable berries to consumers across the country.”
Teams have already begun working together and will be establishing timelines for each product’s development and availability. Initial berries are expected to be available in the next few years.
According to Mintel’s GNPD, only about three percent of new foods introduced in U.S. markets each year are fruits and vegetables. However, in caneberries alone, teams have evaluated hundreds of varieties available in nature, but not grown or bred for consumer use. In fact, gene editing enables breeding experts and growers to bring to market new varieties within mere years, as compared to decades, if achievable at all.ews
Pairwise today announced the early completion of its development milestones in its collaboration with Bayer. Opened in 2018, Pairwise believes healthy food should be affordable, convenient and sustainable. This mission comes to life in its partnership with Bayer through the creation of new varieties that allow farmers to use fewer resources and to be more productive.
As part of its product development efforts, Pairwise is collaborating with Bayer to use gene editing to solve key challenges in five major row crops – corn, soybeans, wheat, canola and cotton. As part of the collaboration, milestones were established to ensure timely development of a state-of-the-art gene editing commercial pipeline at Pairwise.
“By accomplishing these milestones 16 months ahead of schedule, Pairwise has significantly accelerated our growing product pipeline,” said Dr. Tom Adams, CEO of Pairwise. “We have established a robust trait pipeline with the capacity to initiate nearly 400 unique constructs per year aimed at important commercial targets.”
The high throughput and high efficiency editing capability, including base editing, enables Pairwise to develop new products through the testing of a wide range of novel alleles across multiple crops, genes, and traits.
“We are pleased with the rapid progress Pairwise has made in developing robust gene editing capabilities” said Jeremy Williams, Senior Vice President and Head of Plant Biotechnology at Bayer.
Progress will enable new product development
Progress made on applying gene editing techniques to row crops within the Bayer-Pairwise collaboration will enable future product development when those tools are translated to fruits and vegetables.
“These capabilities put our teams in position to deliver breakthrough innovation in consumer-focused crops, which will translate into product benefits that will delight consumers,” said Pairwise’s Adams. “The breadth of the gene editing that we have developed unlocks tremendous potential to explore a variety of traits that will bring exciting changes to the produce aisle.”
Pairwise today announced it has selected Durham, N.C., as its headquarters and will lease space on the Golden Belt Campus in the heart of downtown. The move represents a commitment to growth in a region ripe with innovation and engagement in the agricultural technology industry.
“Pairwise is focused on improving produce and row crops to address consumer needs for affordable, healthy, convenient and sustainable food,” said Pairwise CEO Dr. Tom Adams. “Our facilities in Durham, the talent we have recruited, and the close proximity to like-minded life science businesses and organizations will help us make this vision a reality. Establishing our headquarters in Durham will allow us to focus on research and development, as well as growing our business and becoming an active member in the local community.”
“North Carolina is home to a diverse agriculture base that includes not only a wide range of crops, but emerging technologies in life sciences from agriculture to pharmaceuticals,” said Pairwise Chief Business Officer Haven Baker. “Durham itself is home to a mix of education, science and art which makes it a great place to build a company. We’re excited to establish our presence in a city, and state, that thrives on its diversity of growth opportunities.”
The company was founded by Adams, Baker and leading academics J. Keith Joung, David Liu and Feng Zhang to leverage the natural diversity in agricultural crops in new ways to address global food and health challenges. The company is developing new genomic technologies it intends to make available to a wide array of food and agriculture companies spanning row and specialty crops, fruits and vegetables. Since announcing the company’s formation in March 2018, its leadership has expanded to include:
- Ryan Rapp, Head of Product Discovery
- Aaron Hummel, Head of Genome Editing Technology
- Mike Mann, Head of Trait Development Pipeline
- Ian Miller, Vice President of Business Operations
- Heather Hudson, Head of Collaborations and Portfolio Management
- Jason Goode, Director of Business Development
- Amy Lewis, Head of Human Resources
The company currently has approximately 50 employees, and anticipates hiring an additional 30-40 employees throughout 2018 and 2019.
Pairwise has already engaged with The North Carolina Biotechnology Center as an important resource for establishing a collaborative network in the region.
The Golden Belt Campus is a 320,000 square-foot historic mill that once facilitated textile and tobacco operations and is the only remaining 1900s-era conversion opportunity of its kind in the area. With a 36,000-square-foot space in the newly renovated multi-building, mixed-use Golden Belt Campus, Pairwise will complement its presence in the Research Triangle Park (RTP) where it currently has 24,000 square feet of greenhouse and an additional 30,000 square feet of space for additional research and development.
In the spring of 2019, the research and development team and executives will move to the location downtown, while additional team members will remain in RTP at the plant growth and testing facilities.
“Pairwise is a forward-thinking company and an ideal tenant for the Golden Belt Campus,” said Ed Kulik, the co-owner of LRC Properties which is a managing member of Golden Belt Campus. “We are excited to see how this new office and lab location will enable their company to further expand their research and continue to make breakthroughs in healthy and sustainable food production.”
NAI Carolantic Realty brokers Robin Roseberry Anders, SIOR, and Jordan Williams, MBA, represent the Golden Belt Campus. Pairwise was represented by Don Shupe and Heath Chapman of CBRE in the lease negotiation.
About Pairwise
Driven by the belief that food should be healthy, affordable, convenient and sustainable, Pairwise brings together leaders in agriculture and technology to harness the transformative potential of new genomics technologies to address our food system’s needs. We are working to develop new varieties of crops, and to partner with food and agriculture companies who seek to put nutritious food on tables across the globe. From developing novel genome editing tools to leveraging the natural genetic diversity of plants and creating robust partnerships and collaborations, we are addressing the biggest challenges facing the future of food. Join us.
About Golden Belt
Represented by NAI Carolantic Realty brokers Robin Roseberry Anders, SIOR, and Jordan Williams, MBA, Golden Belt Campus is a 320,000 SF historic mill that once facilitated textile and tobacco operations and is the only remaining 1900s era conversion opportunity of its kind in the area. LRC Properties purchased the Mill No.1 portion of the campus in 2016, and the remainder of the Golden Belt buildings in mid-2017, beginning a full-scale renovation of the former that summer. In addition to fully renovated brick and timber office spaces boasting large 40K SF floor plates, the renovation will include new artist’s studios and galleries, landscaped outdoor areas for tenant and neighborhood gatherings, and a music stage on the “Summer Stage Plaza” bordering Taylor Street.
About LRC Properties
LRC Properties is an experienced investment manager focused on East Coast commercial real estate investments. Founded in 2009 by Howard Lavitt and Edward Kulik, LRC Properties is headquartered in New York with an experienced team capable of dealing with all aspects of real estate management. In North Carolina, LRC Properties has assets in Charlotte, Durham and Raleigh, with an office in Charlotte. LRC concentrates in acquiring core plus and value add properties in improving markets, and currently manages more than 8 million square feet in the Southeast. LRC is positioned to move quickly to deploy capital and decisively secure transactions. For more information on LRC Properties, visit www.lrcprop.com.
Pairwise Plants (Pairwise) today announced it has closed a $25M Series A financing co-led by Deerfield Management and Monsanto Growth Ventures (MGV), the venture capital arm of Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON).
Pairwise is an agricultural company focused on using gene editing and leveraging natural diversity in agricultural crops in new ways to address global food challenges. The company will be led by Dr. Tom Adams, chief executive officer (CEO), and Dr. Haven Baker, chief business officer, with founders Drs. Feng Zhang, David Liu and J. Keith Joung, each a preeminent expert and inventor of gene-editing technologies.
Together this team brings unparalleled expertise to Pairwise. “My co-founders and I believe the technologies we have each been developing can have a profound impact in plant agriculture and will speed innovation that is badly needed to feed a growing population amid challenging conditions created by a changing climate,” said Pairwise founder J. Keith Joung.
Pairwise has licensed programmable base editing technology from Harvard University and will be developing new gene-editing applications that Pairwise intends to make available to a wide array of food and agriculture companies spanning row and specialty crops, fruits and vegetables.
“Our world needs healthier, more affordable, more convenient and more sustainable food,” said Dr. Tom Adams, incoming Pairwise CEO. “Our goal is to solve agriculture problems across a wide range of food systems that are also acknowledged social problems – including food waste, food security and nutrition, and to enable other companies worldwide to benefit from gene editing through technology licensing and collaboration.”
The industry-leading work of the Pairwise founders, and the unique ability of these experts to work together toward the goal of advancing innovation in agriculture, appealed to investors.
“Deerfield has experience in gene-editing technology for human health and we see Pairwise as an opportunity to engage leading scientists in gene editing to create a truly unique company that will benefit agriculture and society,” said Cam Wheeler, Principal at Deerfield Management.
MGV is one of the most active investors in agriculture. “Part of Monsanto’s commitment to modern agriculture is recognizing and accelerating innovation by investing in best-in-class startup companies,” said Kiersten Stead, investment director for MGV. “We are excited to establish a new independent company that will create innovative new products to benefit consumers, farmers and the environment – both in grains and underbred crops.”
About the Pairwise Founders
- David Liu is a Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, faculty member at the Broad Institute, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. At Harvard, Liu pioneered base editing, a new form of gene editing, and evolved genome editing agents with improved properties compared to their natural forms.
- J. Keith Joung is the Desmond and Ann Heathwood Research Scholar and a pathologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. Over the past decade, his lab has invented and optimized important innovations in gene-editing technology.
- Feng Zhang is a core institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, an investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, as well as the James and Patricia Poitras Professor in Neuroscience at MIT, in the departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Zhang developed the CRISPR-Cas9 system for gene editing in eukaryotic cells and continues to identify and adapt gene-editing tools including CRISPR-Cas12s (Cpf1) and CRISPR-Cas13s.
- Tom Adams, former vice president of biotechnology at Monsanto, will be joining the company on April 1 as CEO. Adams brings more than 30 years of genomics and biotechnology research experience, including 20 years at Monsanto where he most recently led the company’s Biotechnology organization.
- Haven Baker will assume the role of Chief Business Officer. Baker, formerly senior vice president and general manager of Simplot Plant Sciences, was responsible for launching the Innate Potato.
About Pairwise
Driven by the belief that food should be healthy, affordable, convenient and sustainable, Pairwise brings together leaders in agriculture and technology to harness the transformative potential of genome editing to address our food system’s needs. We are working to develop new varieties of crops, and to partner with food and agriculture companies who seek to put nutritious food on tables across the globe. From developing novel genome editing tools to leveraging the natural genetic diversity of plants and creating robust partnerships and collaborations, we are working to address the biggest challenges facing the future of food. Join us. For more information, please visit www.pairwiseplants.com.
About Deerfield Management
Deerfield is a healthcare investment firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy. For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.
About Monsanto Growth Ventures
Monsanto Growth Ventures, the venture capital arm of Monsanto Company, is growth-stage agnostic and will invest in companies from Seed stage, through Series A and beyond. Its robust program for partnering with early-stage companies leads to stronger partnerships, collaborations that accelerate development and, sometimes, according to strategic goals, mergers and acquisitions. As one of more than a dozen companies in the MGV portfolio, the investment in Pairwise complements Monsanto’s approach to integrating plant breeding, plant biotechnology, crop protection, ag biologicals and data science platforms to give growers better tools and technologies for producing better harvests, protecting crops and conserving resources in the face of mounting environmental challenges such as climate change and water scarcity. For more information on Monsanto Growth Ventures, visit https://monsanto.com/company/monsanto-growth-ventures/.
Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) and Pairwise Plants (Pairwise), an agricultural startup, have announced a collaboration to advance agriculture research and development by leveraging gene-editing technology. Under the agreement, Pairwise will work in corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and canola crops exclusively with Monsanto. The companies bring unparalleled expertise and complementary intellectual property (IP) to a strategic alliance expected to drive new and needed solutions to help farmers produce better harvests, protect crops from evolving threats, and conserve resources in the face of mounting environmental challenges.
Under the companies’ collaboration and licensing agreement, Monsanto would contribute $100 million to access and develop Pairwise IP in row crop applications, including an option to commercialize products resulting from the research collaboration.
“Part of Monsanto’s commitment to delivering new technologies to farmers is recognizing other innovators we can work with to accelerate solutions,” said Dr. Robb Fraley, Monsanto chief technology officer. “We are excited to be collaborating with the pioneers in gene editing at Pairwise to build on the robust body of research driven by our in-house team.”
Pairwise is focused on finding new ways to address global food challenges through a world-class collective of gene-editing and agriculture thought leaders, along with access to foundational gene-editing IP. Pairwise has licensed programmable base editing technology from Harvard University and will be developing new gene-editing applications that Pairwise and Monsanto will apply in their research. Pairwise also plans to develop its own new crop varieties while collaborating with other agriculture and consumer food companies.
“My co-founders and I believe the technologies we have each been developing can have a profound impact in plant agriculture and will speed innovation that is badly needed to feed a growing population amid challenging conditions created by a changing climate,” said Pairwise founder J. Keith Joung. “Base editing technology has the potential to have an enormous impact on the speed and precision with which plant scientists can improve crops, giving researchers the ability to make single nucleotide changes at a precise location in the genome efficiently.”
Pairwise recently closed a $25 million Series A financing co-led by premier venture capital firm Deerfield Management and Monsanto Growth Ventures, the venture capital arm of Monsanto, which are each minority shareholders. The company will be led by Dr. Tom Adams, incoming chief executive officer, and Dr. Haven Baker, chief business officer, with founders Drs. David Liu (professor and researcher at Harvard University and the Broad Institute, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator), Feng Zhang (Broad Institute/MIT) and J. Keith Joung (Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School), each a preeminent expert and inventor of gene-editing technologies.
“Human health care has long pioneered gene-related treatments, successfully advancing responses to our most systemic disease challenges. Pairwise and our partners believe the same is possible for agriculture,” said Dr. Baker, Pairwise chief business officer. “Gene editing can play a critical role in addressing global food challenges through collaboration across companies worldwide.”
For more information on Pairwise, visit www.pairwiseplants.com.
About Monsanto Company
Monsanto is committed to bringing a broad range of solutions to help nourish our growing world. We produce seeds for fruits, vegetables and key crops – such as corn, soybeans, and cotton – that help farmers have better harvests while using water and other important resources more efficiently. We work to find sustainable solutions for soil health, help farmers use data to improve farming practices and conserve natural resources, and provide crop protection products to minimize damage from pests and disease. Through programs and partnerships, we collaborate with farmers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, universities and others to help tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. To learn more about Monsanto, our commitments and our more than 20,000 dedicated employees, please visit Monsanto.com. Follow our business on Twitter® at twitter.com/MonsantoCo.
About Pairwise
Driven by the belief that food should be healthy, affordable, convenient and sustainable, Pairwise brings together leaders in agriculture and technology to harness the transformative potential of genome editing to address our food system’s needs. We are working to develop new varieties of crops, and to partner with food and agriculture companies who seek to put nutritious food on tables across the globe. From developing novel genome editing tools to leveraging the natural genetic diversity of plants and creating robust partnerships and collaborations, we are working to address the biggest challenges facing the future of food. Join us.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information:
Certain statements contained in this release are “forward-looking statements,” such as statements concerning the company’s anticipated financial results, current and future product performance, regulatory approvals, business and financial plans and other non-historical facts, as well as the pending transaction with Bayer Aktiengesellschaft (“Bayer”). These statements are based on current expectations and currently available information. However, since these statements are based on factors that involve risks and uncertainties, the company’s actual performance and results may differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, among others: risks related to the pending transaction between the company and Bayer, including the risk that the regulatory approvals required for the transaction may not be obtained on the anticipated terms or time frame or at all, the risk that the other conditions to the completion of the transaction may not be satisfied, the risk that disruptions or uncertainties related to the pending transaction could adversely affect the company’s business, financial performance and/or relationships with third parties, and the risk that certain contractual restrictions during the pendency of the transaction could adversely affect the company’s ability to pursue business opportunities or strategic transactions; continued competition in seeds, traits and agricultural chemicals; the company’s exposure to various contingencies, including those related to intellectual property protection, regulatory compliance and the speed with which approvals are received, and public understanding and acceptance of our biotechnology and other agricultural products; the success of the company’s research and development activities; the outcomes of major lawsuits, including potential litigation related to the pending transaction with Bayer; developments related to foreign currencies and economies; fluctuations in commodity prices; compliance with regulations affecting our manufacturing; the accuracy of the company’s estimates related to distribution inventory levels; the levels of indebtedness, continued availability of capital and financing and rating agency actions; the company’s ability to fund its short-term financing needs and to obtain payment for the products that it sells; the effect of weather conditions, natural disasters, accidents, and security breaches, including cybersecurity incidents, on the agriculture business or the company’s facilities; and other risks and factors detailed in the company’s most recent periodic report to the SEC. Undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which are current only as of the date of this release. The company disclaims any current intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements or any of the factors that may affect actual results.
Pairwise is pioneering the application of CRISPR technology in food and agriculture.
