The Corbett Report (2018)
About
- AgrEvo = Merger of Hoechst (60%) and Schering (40%) in 1994, integrating the crop protection and pest control business of Roussel Uclaf (more than 10,000 patents worldwide).
- Aventis = Merger of Rhône-Poulenc S.A. and Hoechst AG in 1999.
- Aventis CropScience = Merger of AgrEvo and Rhône-Poulenc Agro.
- Bayer CropScience = Bayer acquires Aventis CropScience in 2002 (biggest acquisition in Bayer history).
- Sales: €6.4 billion in 2008; €5.8 billion in 2007; €5.7 billion in 2006; €5.9 billion in 2005; €5.95 billion in 2004.
- Member of CropLife International.
- Bayer CropScience supports international institutions such as the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the U.S. Agency for International Development through its Environmental Science Business Unit.
Business
2009
- Partnership with North Carolina University.
- Research agreement with the German Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, non-university research centre funded by the federal and regional government, to develop genetically modified, high-yielding canola hybrids.
- Exclusive 5 year collaboration with Nature Source Genetics involving the pre-breeding and enhancement of cotton germplasm.
- Renewed framework agreement signed in 2005 with Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Research, France. Around €4 million in joint projects over the next 4 years.
- Acquisition of assets and technology related to biological development products of Agrogreen, a business unit of the Minrav Group, Israel. Included products marketed under the brand name BioNem (active ingredient Bacillus firmus), currently registered in Israel for use in cucumbers, eggplant, pepper, tomato, almond, apricot, olive, peach, plum, pomegranate, major herbs, flowers and garlic.
- 3-year collaboration with Evogene Ltd. focused on increasing rice productivity and yield.
- Concluded a multi-year research agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Beerse, Belgium, to develop new post-harvest solutions to protect fruit and vegetable produce against fungal diseases.
- New Plant Biotechnology Research center in Morrisville, North Carolina, U.S.
- Research agreement with the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (UK), to discover new active ingredients for Public Health Products that will be effective against mosquitoes which transmit diseases such as malaria.
- Subsidiary Nunhems, global specialist in vegetable genetics and services, opens research & development station in La Palma, Cartagena, Spain.
- Series of long-term business agreements with DuPont related to key plant biotechnology traits.
- Cross licensing agreement with Monsanto on herbicide tolerance traits in rapeseed/canola.
- Long-term alliance with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia's national research organization, aimed at improving the productivity and sustainability of cereal production utilizing modern techniques.
- New centre of innovation northeast of Saskatoon/Canada, dedicated to the research, development and breeding of canola/oilseed.
2008
- License agreement with Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. that grants exclusive, worldwide rights in the field of plants to a certain Sirtris technology which contributes to cellular life span extension and stress resistance.
- Letter of intent with the Ministry of Agriculture of Indonesia regarding cooperation in research, development and dissemination of hybrid rice technology in Indonesia.
- As part of the "food chain partnership" Bayer CropScience supports the "Eat in Colour" campaign initiated by the British Fresh Produce Consortium.
- Exclusive agreement with Monsanto on a new cutting-edge fungicide seed treatment for corn.
- New rice research laboratory in Singapore.
- New rice development center in Suphanburi, Thailand. Thailand is the world's largest exporter of rice, and exports over 60% of the rice produced in the country.
- Nunhems, vegetable seed business, to invest €15 million in the expansion of its U.S. facilities in Parma, Idaho.
- Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences on agricultural research for joint development and global marketing of agricultural products. Joint projects using the latest technologies in the areas of plant breeding, genetics, genomics and seed production.
2007
- Agreement of up to 10 years with Plant Health Care Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Plant Health Care plc, to develop new seed treatment solutions based on Plant Health Care's Myconate technology in combination with Bayer CropScience´s seed treatment products.
- Acquisition of Unilever's tomato seed business by Nunhems.
- Research and development collaboration with Evogene Ltd. for rice.
- Agreement to purchase Stoneville Pedigreed Seed Company, a leading US provider of cotton seeds, from Monsanto Company for $310 million.
- Series of long-term business and licensing agreements with Monsanto related to key enabling agricultural technologies.
- Nunhems, vegetable seed business, acquires the assets of the South Korean vegetable seed company SeedEx which specializes in the breeding, production and marketing of Hot pepper and Brassica varieties. Both crops belong to the most important vegetable crops in Asia in terms of acreage and consumption.
- Agreement with the Innovative Vector Control Consortium to collaborate on two projects aimed at finding new effective solutions in the fight against malaria and other vector borne diseases.
- Licensing agreement with Senesco Technologies Inc. for exclusive, worldwide rights to Senesco's proprietary gene technology for use in rice and cotton.
- Concluded long-term agreement with Geosys S.A. to pursue ongoing development of innovative information systems for agricultural use.
- Vegetable seed business Nunhems acquires all assets relating to the asparagus breeding program from the Dutch Teboza Research, part of the Teboza Group.
- €60 million investment in new plant for the production of methane phosphonous acid n-butyl ester at the Knapsack Chemical Park near Cologne.
- Longterm collaboration agreement with Mertec LLC and M.S. Technologies LLC to jointly develop and commercialize several innovative trait technology products in soybeans.
- Series of business and license agreements with Euralis Semences S.A. to cooperate in the development of new winter oilseed rape hybrid seed products destined for use by European farmers.
- Vegetable seed business Nunhems has acquires the U.S. seed company Paragon Seed Inc.
2006
- Bayer Innovation GmbH, a subsidiary of the Bayer Group engaged in developing new fields of business, acquires Icon Genetics AG, a biotech company headquartered in Munich, Germany.
- Collaboration with Cresset BioMolecular Discovery Ltd to exploit Cresset’s molecular field technology for the discovery of new agrochemicals.
- Bayer CropScience acquires the rights to FMC Corporation's insecticides discovery pipeline.
- Belgian subsidiary Bayer BioScience NV and Cellectis S.A., French rational genome engineering company, in an agreement for accessing to Cellectis' proprietary custom-made Meganuclease genome engineering technology for use in plant research and to develop products for use in agriculture.
- Multi-year research agreement with Magellan BioScience Group to identify novel crop protection candidates from marine microbial sources.
- Multi-year supply and distribution agreement with Nufarm for DFF (diflufenican) and DFF-based products in Europe.
- Bayer CropScience sales certain crop protection products, including the systemic carbamate herbicidal active ingredient Asulam (brand names Asulox, Asilan), to United Phosphorous Limited, Mumbai, India, for €43.5 million including inventories.
- DuPont Crop Protection acquires access to the Bayer CropScience products Isoxadifen and Isoxaflutole for use with DuPont's corn sulfonylurea products, including Steadfast, Accent, Stout and Resolve brands. Bayer CropScience, in turn, gains access to participation in the Pioneer TruChoice program and to co-promote its Liberty/Liberty Link program with Pioneer.
- Exclusive license agreement with Senesco Technologies Inc. for use of Senesco's gene technology in Canola and Brassica oilseeds.
- Multi-year distribution agreement with Cheminova A/S for DFF (diflufenican) mixture products in Europe.
- Bayer CropScience purchases the assets of California Planting Cotton Seed Distributors, Bakersfield, California, and the assets of Reliance Genetics LLC, Harlingen, Texas.
2005
- Alliance with Cargill to provide market with speciality canola oil.
- Agreement with the Max Planck Society and their affiliate Garching Innovation GmbH, Germany, and Monsanto Company that resolves long-standing patent interference or other proceedings in different countries involving the use of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation to create transgenic crops. Agrobacterium transformation technology allows scientists to transfer DNA to plant cells.
- Acquisition of the assets of Associated Farmers Delinting Inc., regional cotton seed production and processing company based in Littlefield, Texas.
- Multi-year, non-exclusive Imidacloprid insecticide supply contract with Cheminova for agricultural and non-agricultural applications (excluding Animal Health uses).
- Multi-year, non-exclusive supply agreement with Makhteshim Agan Industries for the insecticide Imidacloprid for agricultural and non-agricultural markets (excluding Animal Health uses).
- Arysta LifeScience acquires amitraz, broad spectrum acaricide and selective insecticide, trade name Mitac, for global distribution; exclusive license for marketing fluoxastrobin, a fungicide, for crop uses in the U.S., Canada and Japan as well as an exclusive license for marketing the compound globally for non-crop uses such as on turf and ornamentals; and co-exclusive license to co-market deltamethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide, in the U.S. crop protection market. Bayer CropScience supplies Arysta LifeScience with fluoxastrobin for sale in these markets as well as with tebuconazole for in-can mixtures with fluoxastrobin in the US.
- Bayer CropScience divests soybeans and corn seeds operations in Brazil to the international grain and agribusiness company Nidera and invests further in growing cotton and rice operations in Brazil.
- Co-development agreement with Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., Japan, for a new compound to combat rice blast.
- €5 million in a new seed processing facility in Lethbridge, Calgary, Canada.
2004
- Bayer CropScience in the U.S. and Canada sign agreements to purchase Crompton Corporation's 50% share of the Gustafson seed treatment business in the United States, Canada and Mexico for $124 million in cash.
- Bayer fulfills contractual obligation by selling the 15% interest in KWS Saat AG that passed into its ownership when acquired Aventis CropScience in 2002 to private investors Tessner Beteiligungs GmbH and Dr. Arend Oetker.
- New plant biotechnology innovation center in Gent, Belgium.
2003
- Bayer CropScience AG sells additional crop protection products to Israel based agrochemicals company Makhteshim-Agan Industries Ltd.
- Agreement with the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research on further research into the genome of the fungal corn pest Ustilago maydis (common corn smut).
- Sale of a package of selected insecticides and fungicides to BASF AG while retaining certain back-licenses for non-agricultural applications.
- Broad-reaching business agreement with Monsanto that dismisses several long-pending lawsuits and resolves several outstanding patent disputes between the companies.
- Licensing deal with The Max Planck Society, a German research funding organization, and its technology transfer agency Garching Innovation GmbH for exclusive licensee of the Agrobacterium transformation technology.
Before 2003
- 1851: "Green Pharmacy" founded by Ernst Schering, Berlin (Germany).
- 1863: "Friedrich Bayer et comp." founded by Friedrich Bayer and Johann Friedrich Weskott, Wuppertal (Germany).
- 1893: Farbwerke Meister, Lucius & Brüning, Höchst (Germany) founded.
- 1895: Société Chimique des Usines du Rhône founded in Lyon (France).
- 1924: Bayer Crop Protection research department established.
- 1968: Hoechst acquires 40% in Roussel Uclaf/Procida, raising its participation to a majority stake in 1978 and to 100% in 1997.
- 1979: Start of construction of the Agricultural Center in Monheim (Germany), today Bayer CropScience’s headquarters.
- 1986: Hoechst acquires Nunza vegetable seeds, Haelen (Netherlands), today a subsidiary of Bayer CropScience. Agricultural Division of Union Carbide, Research Triangle Park, NC (USA) acquired by Rhône-Poulenc.
- 1991: Roussel Uclaf purchases Wellcome plc's environmental health business.
- 1994: Roussel Uclaf donates US patent rights for the abortifacient mifepristone to Population Council Inc. in exchange for immunity from any product liability claims.
- 1996: Plant Genetic Systems research center in Gent (Belgium) acquired by AgrEvo.
- 1997: Acquisition of Sunseeds by Nunhems.
- 1999: Proagro, based in Gurgaon (India), acquired by AgrEvo.
- 2002: Acquisition of the Belgian biotech company Plant Genetic Systems.
- 2001: Bayer CropScience researchers are the first to establish a genomic map of the phytopathogenic fungus Ustilago maydis.
Products
2009
- New herbicidal active ingredient Indaziflam, chemical class of alkylazines.
- €30 million in the expansion of production capacities for the active ingredient Prothioconazole at the Chemical Park in Dormagen. Prothioconazole is approved in more than 40 countries for use in cereals, canola, soybeans, pulses and groundnuts. Products based on Prothioconazole were among Bayer CropScience’s ten most important products worldwide, with sales of €246 million in 2008.
- New fungicidal active ingredient fluopyram. Initial marketing authorization in United States expected in 2010.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture grants approval for the GlyTol glyphosate-tolerant technology.
2008
- Fluopicolide receives regulatory approval in Japan and the United States.
- Launch of Arize Dhani, the world's first hybrid rice variety resistant to the dreaded bacterial leaf blight disease, in India.
- The Belgian authorities grants the registration for Infinito (Fluopicolide + Propamocarb-HCl) for use against late blight (Phytophthora infestans) in potatoes. Already approved fluopicolide products, for example Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Japan and China.
2007
- Launch of herbicide Laudis (Tembotrione) and a combi-pack sold as Laudis Plus (tembotrione + terbutylazine) in Austria.
- Regulatory approval of Infinito (Fluopicolide) in Poland, Germany and Austria.
- Launch of the "Flavour Guarantee" Programme in cooperation with the non-governmental organization HortiBrasil, in Bazil. Joined More than 400 growers (grapes, melons and pineapples). The "Flavour Guarantee" program also works with children in schools to teach them about healthy eating with sweet fruit.
- Launch program for Brazil comprises 8 active ingredients, including the broad-spectrum insecticide Flubendiamide (Belt), the new corn herbicide Tembotrione (Soberan), the fungicide Prothioconazole (Proline) and the insecticidal ingredient Spirotetramat (Movento).
- Commercial launch in Brazil of Arize and Atento, unique solution for the management of Asian rust.
- Launch in Canada, in alliance with Cargill, of new hybrid canola line, InVigor Health, specifically developed for the North American specialty canola oil market.
- First regulatory approval for Huskie, new cereal herbicidal active ingredient pyrasulfotole from the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States.
- Regulatory approval for Fame, new insecticidal active ingredient flubendiamide in India. Also recently granted full regulatory approval in the Philippines and Pakistan, where it is marketed as Fenos and Belt respectively. The active ingredient was jointly developed for global marketing by Bayer and Nihon Nohyaku Co. Ltd., Japan. It belongs to the chemical class of benzenedicarboxamides and can be used to combat caterpillar pests in cotton, fruit and vegetables, nuts, grapes, corn and rice.
- First regulatory approval for new insecticidal active ingredient spirotetramat from the authorities in Tunisia.
- Thiencarbazone-methyl, new sulfonyl-amino-carbonyl-triazolinone for preemergence weed control in corn.
2006
- Clothianidin, brand name Poncho, active ingredient for insecticidal seed treatment developed jointly with Sumitomo Chemical Takeda Agro Company, approved in the European Union.
- Approval for new insecticide Oberon for use in vegetables and cotton in Brazil.
- Bayer CropScience concentrates production of crop protection agents in Brazil on Belford Roxo plant.
- Marketing authorization for active ingredients prothioconazole and fluoxastrobin in France.
- Infinito (Fluopicolide) launch in China, Korea and the United Kingdom.
2005
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants emergency exemption approval for the use of Stratego fungicide (Trifloxystrobin + Propiconazole) for control of Asian soybean rust.
- Launched new Nativo fungicide in Brazil as the first market world wide.
- Launched the strobilurin fungicide fluoxastrobin in combination with prothioconazole as Fandango in Germany, the UK and Ireland.
- New class of herbicide formulations named ODesi launched in Poland and Ukraine as the first markets world wide.
- Poland, the first country where Alister, state-of-the-art autumn herbicide, is placed on the market.
- Grodyl maxi, using the ODesi formulation technology, launched in Ukraine.
- Fungicide fluopicolide gains first registrations in the UK and China.
2004
- France’s Minister of Agriculture, Hervé Gaymard, decides to suspend the marketing authorization for Gaucho for maize in France.
- Prothioconazole, a member of the new class of triazolinethiones, first approved in Germany under the trademark Proline.
2003
- French Minister of Agriculture, Hervé Gaymard decides to maintain the registration of seed treatment product Gaucho (active ingredient imidacloprid) in maize.
- Approval of insecticidal seed treatment Ponchoâ, Clothianidin, maize and canola, in the USA and Canada. Result from an ongoing development cooperation with Sumitomo Chemical Takeda Agro Co. Ltd.
- Poncho receives first marketing authorizations as a seed dressing for corn starting in the USA, Canada, Argentina, Hungaria, Germany and Austria.
Before 2003
- 1893: World's first synthetic insecticide, antinonnin, launched by Bayer.
- 1951: First systemic insecticide Systox (demeton) launched by Bayer.
- 1988: Fungicide tebuconazole launched by Bayer under the brand name Folicur. Safener technology developed in Frankfurt.
- 1989: First field trials with genetically modified tobacco conducted in France.
- 1991: Imidacloprid insecticide launched by Bayer under the brand names Confidor and Gaucho.
- 1992: Gaucho is registered in France for use as a seed treatment in maize.
- 1994: Gaucho is registered in France for use as a seed treatment in sunflower.
- 1995: LibertyLink system (glufosinate selective) registered for oilseed rape (canola) in Canada.
- 1997: Gaucho is accused of being a cause for the decline in the bee populations in certain regions of France.
- 2001: Mikado (sulcotrione) herbicide and Flint (trifloxystrobin) fungicide line acquired by Bayer Crop Protection.
Executive Committee (2009)
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Friedrich Berschauer
- Chairman of the Board of Directors since March 2008.
- Chairman of the Board of Management since April 2004.
- Head of the animal nutrition department of Bayer AG at the Pharmaceuticals Research Center in Wuppertal (1980).
- Head of Development in the Bayer's Crop Protection Business Group (1993).
- President of the Animal Health Division of Bayer Corporation in US (1998).
- General Manager of the Animal Health Business Group at Bayer AG (2000).
- "What is needed is nothing less than a 'second green revolution'" - (Monheim, April 2009).
- "Enabling a second green revolution in Asia with new, high-yielding rice varieties" - (Thailand, November, 2008).
- "Furthermore, we want to intensify our research and development activities in Asia and bring a number of new rice varieties with improved plant traits to market" - (Thailand, November 2008). More than 90% of the rice produced in the world come from Asian countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.
Dr. Rüdiger Scheitza
- Board of Management, Head of Portfolio Management and Labor Director since July 2004.
- Positions in Applications Technology and Consulting in the former Crop Protection Business Group (1982).
- Head of Marketing in Western Europe and Head of Global Registration for crop protection products (1993).
- Responsible for Bayer Vital's crop protection business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (1997-1998).
- "What we need is nothing less than a second green revolution" - (Monheim, September 2008).
William Buckner
- Executive Committee as Head of the Business Operations unit Crop Protection North America since April 2006.
- Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1979.
- Retail Sales Representative of USS Agricultural Chemicals, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel Corporation.
- Commerce BankShares (1980-1984).
- Various positions and National Sales Manager with Pitman-Moore Inc. (1984-1993).
- Bayer's Marketing Executive in the Companion Animal Heath business in Kansas (1993).
- Bayer's Animal Health Business Group as a Business Development Manager in Germany (1996).
- Vice President / General Manager of Bayer's Canadian Agricultural business in Toronto (1998).
- President/CEO of Bayer CropScience Inc. in Calgary (2002).
- Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for Bayer CropScience LLC in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (2004).
- Country Head for the U.S. crop protection business (2005).
Dr. Pascal Housset
- Head of the Business Operations unit Environmental Science and member of the Executive Committee since 2002.
- PhD in molecular biology when doing research at the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (1976).
- CEO of Hoechst Roussel Agrovet, Somerville, USA (1979).
- Head of the Agrovet division of Roussel Uclaf in Paris (1990).
- Executive Vice President of Rhone-Poulenc Agro heading the Global Marketing and Manufacturing (1995).
- Chairman of the Board of Directors of Aventis Environmental Science S.A. (2000).
Dr. Alexander Klausener
- Executive Committee as Head of Research effective since April 2006.
- Laboratory manager in the Bayer's Corporate Research Center in Uerdingen, Germany (1984).
- Laboratory manager in the Crop Protection Business Group at Chemical Research Fungicides (1987).
- Various positions in the Organic Chemicals Business Group and Head of Fine Chemicals Research (1989-2002).
- Head of Global Fungicides Chemistry in Bayer CropScience (2002).
- Head of Research in France and Head of Global Fungicides Research.
Bernd Naaf
- Executive Committee and responsible for the Business Operations unit Crop Protection Asia Pacific based in Singapore since October 2004.
- Bayer AG's Commercial Training Program (1978).
- Positions in Sales and Marketing, and Sales Supervisor in the UK (1984-1987).
- General Manager for the Bayer Crop Protection business UK and Ireland (1991-1995).
- Head of Business Planning and Administration (1995-1998).
- Global Marketing of the Animal Health Business Group (1998).
- Senior Vice President of the Bayer CropScience Business Operations in the United States (2003).
Marc Reichardt
- Executive Committee as Head of the Business Operations unit Crop Protection Latin America since April 2006.
- Sales representative at Bayer Hispania S.A. (1985) and Regional Manager for Spain.
- Country Manager of Bayer in Poland (1992).
- Product Manager for rice herbicides of Bayer AG in Germany (1996).
- Country Manager for Argentina of Bayer S.A. (1999).
- Head of Brazil and the Mercosur Region at the Crop Protection Business Group (2003).
Dr. Wolfgang Welter
- Board of Management and responsible for Industrial Operations and Quality, Health, Safety and Environment since July 2004.
- Various functions and international assignments, within Industrial Operations for the Divisions Crop Protection and Fine Chemicals in Hoechst AG (1977).
- Head of Production Active Ingredients at Agrevo in Frankfurt (1994-1999).
- Head of Manufacturing at Aventis CropScience, France.
Hugh Grant
- Vice-Chairman of the Board.
- Chairman and CEO of Monsanto.
- Board of Trustees of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and Washington University in St. Louis.
- Board Director of PPG Industries Inc.
- Member of the President's Advisory Group of CropLife International.
- Member of Civic Progress.
- Board of Commissioners of the St. Louis Science Center.
- International Advisory Board Member of Scottish Enterprise.
J. Erik Fyrwald
- Chairman of the Board of Directors until Chairman and CEO of water treatment services company Nalco in February 2008.
- Formerly DuPont Group Vice-President for Agriculture and Nutrition.