RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, USA and WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA, October 17, 2008 -- BASF Plant Science and the University of Manitoba, a leading Canadian academic institution, today announced a licensing agreement on a promising gene discovery related to increased crop yields and stress tolerance. The discovery may be used in major food crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton, canola and rice. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the agreement, BASF Plant Science will test, develop, and, subject to positive field trial results, market the discovery from the labs of Dr. Robert Hill at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Hill will continue his research at the academic level to deepen his understanding of its entire function.

“The University of Manitoba has impressed us with important discoveries in the plant sciences, and the current agreement can bring powerful synergies to the on-going effort to meet the increasing demand for agricultural output,” said Dr. Juergen Logemann, Vice President Technology Management, BASF Plant Science. 

In Winnipeg, Dr. Robert Hill said, “For a century, the University of Manitoba has been a leading player in agricultural research in Canada. Its faculty members have trained new generations of farmers and have developed important new cultivars and new technologies. Our work with stressed plants over the past two decades can lead to the new, higher-yield strains that are so important today. We are excited about this compelling new discovery.”

About the University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba is western Canada’s first University and a leading research-intensive Institution of higher education. The University has an enrollment of 27,000 students and offers 82 under-graduate and graduate degree programs. For decades, the University has been a font of important intellectual properties including canola, the RH treatment for newborns, mass spectrometer technologies and one of the world’s leading ventilators. Today, the University is home to vibrant research community.  For more information about the University, please visit www.umanitoba.ca

About BASF Plant Science
BASF, the Chemical Company, consolidated its plant biotechnology activities in BASF Plant Science in 1998. Today, about 700 employees at BASF Plant Science work to optimize crops for more efficient agriculture, renewable raw materials and healthier nutrition.  Projects include increasing yield in key grain crops such as corn, rice and soybeans, higher content of Omega-3s in oil crops to help prevent cardiovascular disease, and potatoes with optimized starch composition for industrial use. To find out more about BASF Plant Science, please visit www.basf.com/plantscience