Novozymes eyes Monsanto's vacated RTP lab

As Bayer moves forward with its plans to buy Monsanto for $66 billion, new tenants are already eyeing the facility Monsanto has just vacated in Research Triangle Park.

Monsanto used the space as an automated greenhouse to monitor phenotypes of corn and other crops it was trying to improve through its breeding program.

Paul Ulanch, executive director of the Biotechnology Crop Commercialization Center, part of the N.C. Biotechnology Center, calls the space "compelling" for a mid-size plant science company. "At the moment, however, it's unclear who that next tenant will be," he says.

One name tossed about by several insiders in the agricultural technology business is Novozymes, and a top exec admits the property is on its radar.

"We are aware that the property formerly occupied by Monsanto is available and have taken this into consideration as we grow our business and look to the future," Thomas Schafer, vice president of Novozymes, said in an email Monday.

The Danish enzyme maker, which has its North American headquarters in nearby Franklinton, has been working with Monsanto on what’s called the BioAg Alliance, a $300 million partnership, since 2013.

And it’s that relationship, intended to provide a new platform of solutions for farmers worldwide, that has driven Novozymes' growth in RTP, where the company has 133 employees next door to Monsanto's vacated lab.

In 2014, Novozymes announced it would bring 100 jobs to the park to support that alliance – a move that qualified it for up to $400,000 in state incentives. The company moved a research and development team to the former Synthon site in the park and got to work.

A corn product from that partnership, which execs have previously said would continue even after Monsanto vacates RTP, is expected to launch in the United States in 2017.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities owns the building Monsanto has been leasing. Monsanto inherited the space with its asset buy of Icoria a decade ago.