HAYWARD, Calif., March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. (“Mendel”) today announced the acquisition of the entire Miscanthus breeding program from Tinplant Biotechnik und Pflanzenvermehrung GmbH (“Tinplant”), a German breeding and plant science company. Miscanthus is one of the leading candidates for dedicated energy crops for production of biofuels such as ethanol from lignocellulosic plant material. This acquisition positions Mendel to be the leading developer of Miscanthus varieties for the cellulosic ethanol industry worldwide.
“We are extremely pleased to have been able to bring Tinplant’s Miscanthus germplasm collection and developed varieties into our breeding program,” said Neal Gutterson, Mendel’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are equally excited about the establishment of a breeding collaboration with Tinplant, which has been the leader to date in Miscanthus variety development. This relationship will also give us a presence in Europe for further development and commercialization activities.”
“The Tinplant Team has spent 15 years of research and breeding of more than 1000 different Miscanthus varieties in order to improve the excellent properties of this high yielding bio-mass plant for our environment and future generations,” noted Frederick Hoelk, sole owner of Tinplant GmbH. “I am very excited about our collaboration with Mendel Biotechnology Inc. and about the worldwide exposure of Miscanthus through Mendel. I am pleased and excited that Tinplant’s vision is becoming a reality.”
The detailed terms of the acquisition were not made available. However, the transaction includes a 5-year collaboration between Mendel and Tinplant for ongoing breeding work, and establishes Tinplant as a sales agent for Mendel’s Miscanthus varieties.
About Mendel Biotechnology
Founded in 1997, Mendel Biotechnology, Inc., a closely-held private company, has been a pioneer in the application of functional genomics to the study of plant genes. Mendel has identified and patented the use of genes that control many aspects of plant growth and development, and is using such inventions to develop or co-develop new plant varieties with improved productivity and quality. Mendel has relationships with leading agricultural, forestry and horticulture companies for the commercialization of improved seed and plant products, including Monsanto. Mendel is developing new seed products for the emerging bioenergy market, focused on seeds and feedstock products for the cellulosic ethanol industry. For more information, visit: http://www.mendelbio.com.
About Tinplant
TINPLANT Biotechnik und Pflanzenvermehrung GmbH was founded in 1992 based on the privatization of the experimental nursery station of the Institute of Sugar Beet Research of the former Academy of Agricultural Sciences of Berlin. The company specializes on in-vitro propagation and repository tasks of a wide range of horticultural and medicinal plants as well as trees. Tinplant has, since its inception, conducted an intensive breeding program for Miscanthus, a promising grass for biofuel production (and raw material for the construction industry), which included an extensive collection of Miscanthus genotypes from other countries.
Mendel Biotechnology, Inc.
CONTACT: James Zhang, VP Business Development, or Neal Gutterson,President & CEO, both of Mendel Biotechnology, +1-510-264-0280
Web site: http://www.mendelbio.com//
