KeyGeneTM announced a license agreement with BASF Plant Science, the
plant biotech company of BASF. The respective intellectual property covers
rights on genes that confer resistance to plant pathogens such as insects,
fungi and nematodes. Under the terms of the agreement, BASF Plant Science
will grant KeyGene milestone payments during the development phase as well
as royalty payments on the commercialized crops. Financial details were not
disclosed.


"We are very pleased with this agreement. It shows that major biotech
companies recognize our intellectual property and support our strategic
decision to explore new business models in order to maximize the value of
our IP-portfolio,? KeyGene?s Vice President of IP and IP commercialization,
Wim-Jan Koot said. ?Equally important, the agreement also reflects our
growing position in the field of plant disease resistance. The agreement
with BASF Plant Science offers great potential for KeyGene to collaborate
with other plant breeding companies in the plant resistance field?, he
added.

About KeyGene
Keygene N.V. (www.keygene.com) is a R&D company with the mission to be the
leading company in developing and applying DNA expertise in the field of
molecular genetics with a focus on crop plants. In recent years KeyGene
invested in next generation sequencing platforms to support its leading
position in the field of plant molecular breeding and developed several new
enabling technologies. KeyGene exploits its proprietary technologies,
databases and know-how through strategic alliances, contract research and
products for applications in the plant breeding industry. KeyGene has a
subsidiary in Rockville Maryland, USA and a Joint Lab at the Shanghai
Institute of Biological Sciences in Shanghai, China. In total KeyGene
employs around 130 researchers and staff.

Information on BASF Plant Science can be found at: www.basf.com/plantscience

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