EAG Laboratories licensing Dow AgroSciences’ Plextein technology to quantitate allergens

Time is money in the highly regulated world of agricultural biotechnology, and the ability to quickly quantitate endogenous allergens is significant for developing new products. Progress in this area is being enabled by an agreement announced today between Dow AgroSciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, and EAG Laboratories (EAG). The non-exclusive license enables EAG to utilize Dow AgroSciences’ patented intellectual property that includes Plextein™, a high throughput method for detecting and quantitating multiple proteins in plants. Historically, testing for food allergens in soybeans required a dozen different tests, while using Plextein allows researchers to determine the required regulatory allergen results in one analysis.

Dow AgroSciences invented Plextein to rapidly identify and quantify multiple proteins in plant samples. The technology is a high-throughput method utilizing liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to simultaneously measure plant-derived proteins of interest to companies and government regulatory agencies.

“The rapid quantitation of allergens in soybeans helps soybean product developers quickly and efficiently meet the increasing regulatory demands around the globe, which ultimately can help speed products getting into the hands of farmers,” says Tom Meade, Ph.D., Global Seeds and Traits Discovery Leader, Dow AgroSciences. “Plextein is highly effective in getting to the answers that are needed in terms of potential changes in allergen expression level.”

“EAG offers seed and trait developers the unique combination of biotechnology and protein characterization expertise, more than 50 years' experience analyzing plant matrices, and significant LC/MS/MS horsepower. Adding the Plextein™ platform to our offering will enable us to better leverage this know-how and bring our customers the latest advancements in plant protein analyses,” said Chris Lively, Ph.D., Senior Director of Biotechnology Services at EAG Laboratories.

About EAG

EAG, Inc., is a global scientific services company serving clients across a vast array of technology-related industries. Through multi-disciplinary expertise in the life, materials and engineering sciences, EAG helps companies innovate and improve products, ensure quality and safety, protect intellectual property and comply with evolving global regulations. EAG employs 1200+ employees in seven countries, across 20 laboratories serving more than 4,000 clients worldwide.

EAG Laboratories is a trade name of EAG, Inc., majority owned by Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC, a leading private equity firm with more than $3.5 billion in capital under management. Odyssey makes majority, control investments primarily in established middle-market industrial manufacturing and business services companies in a variety of industries. Further information regarding Odyssey Investment Partners can be found at www.odysseyinvestment.com.