Hexima announces licensing agreement with Monsanto in wheat

Hexima Limited announced the company has signed a research license and commercial option with Monsanto Company.

The license has been granted for anti-fungal research in wheat with a future option for commercialisation pending research results. Fungal disease is a major source of yield losses of major food crops in every continent and causes significant annual losses for wheat growers. Wheat is the world's largest crop by area.

The agreement licenses Hexima's anti-fungal protein technology which has shown initial success in field trials in other crops over multiple seasons. "Though the research is still early, this technology represents one of Hexima's key scientific platforms and has tremendous potential for delivering value to wheat growers worldwide," said Ross Dobinson, Executive Chairman for Hexima.

"This agreement with Monsanto is another important step in commercialising the technology across all major crops globally," he said. "Monsanto's field expertise and market position make it an ideal partner to evaluate and potentially commercialise this anti-fungal technology in wheat."

Financial terms of the licensing agreement were not disclosed.