Ceres, Inc.

Last updated
Ceres, Inc.
Company type Public
Nasdaq: CERE
Industry Biotechnology
Founded1996;28 years ago (1996)
Headquarters
Thousand Oaks, California
,
United States
Key people
Richard Hamilton (president and CEO)
ProductsSeeds of energy crops
Parent Land O'Lakes
Subsidiaries Ceres Sementes do Brasil
Website ceres.net

Ceres, Inc. was a biotechnology company based in Thousand Oaks, California, United States that operated from 1996 to 2016, when it was acquired by Land O'Lakes. The company was a spinoff from UCLA researchers. Its ultimate commercial products were seeds of genetically modified crops used for biofuel production. [1] [2] In addition to its operations in the United States, Ceres had a subsidiary in Brazil called Ceres Sementes do Brasil. [3]

Contents

History

The company was founded in 1996 by UCLA professor Bob Goldberg and corporate partners with an initial capital of $50 million and an off-campus laboratory site overlooking Malibu, CA. [4] In 2002, the company signed a $137 million licensing agreement with Monsanto for their technology. [5]

Richard Flavell was Chief Scientific Officer from 1998 until the 2012 public offering. [6] From its 2012 initial public offering that raised $65 million until its acquisition, it was listed on the NASDAQ exchange. [7] [1] [8] In 2012, the largest shareholders were Artal Luxembourg, Warburg Pincus, Ambergate Trust, and Oxford Bioscience, while biotechnology company Monsanto had 4.8% stake. [1] The company's president and CEO was Richard Hamilton. [9]

A second public offering in 2014 raised an additional $20 million [6] at $1 per share compared to the 2012 IPO at $13.

On June 21, 2016, Ceres was acquired by Land O'Lakes for $17.2 million. [10]

Products and research

A major early (2000) accomplishment was the full-length cDNA-sequencing of Arabidopsis thaliana in collaboration with Genset [11] with subsequent publication of the sequencies in TIGR and NCBI and submission to US PTO, and the characterization of Arabidopsis AFLP fragments in collaboration with Keygene NV. [12] In 2006, Ceres began a collaboration with the Noble Research Institute to develop switchgrass [13] Ceres sold sweet sorghum, switchgrass and high biomass sorghum seeds, [1] starting in 2009. [14] It tested biofuel production from switchgrass and miscanthus. [8] In 2010, Ceres started to cooperate with Novozymes to improve the enzyme cocktails for biorefinery switchgrass and sweet sorghum. [15] USAID funded Ceres' research on biotech traits and trait stacks in rice for Asia. [16]

Related Research Articles

The Monsanto Company was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in the 1970s. Later, the company became a major producer of genetically engineered crops. In 2018, the company ranked 199th on the Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue.

Land O'Lakes, Inc. is an American member-owned agricultural cooperative based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb of Arden Hills, Minnesota, United States, focusing on the dairy industry. The cooperative has 1,959 direct producer-members, 751 member-cooperatives, and about 9,000 employees who process and distribute products for about 300,000 agricultural producers, handling 12 billion pounds of milk annually. It is ranked third on the National Cooperative Bank Co-op 100 list of mutuals and cooperatives. The co-op is one of the largest producers of butter and cheese in the United States through its dairy foods business; serves producers, animal owners and their families through more than 4,700 local cooperatives, independent dealers and other large retailers through its Purina Animal Nutrition business; and delivers seed, crop protection products, agricultural services and agronomic insights to 1,300 locally owned and operated cooperative and independent agricultural retailers and their grower customers through its WinField United business.

<i>Panicum virgatum</i> Species of plant

Panicum virgatum, commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season bunchgrass native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55°N latitude in Canada southwards into the United States and Mexico. Switchgrass is one of the dominant species of the central North American tallgrass prairie and can be found in remnant prairies, in native grass pastures, and naturalized along roadsides. It is used primarily for soil conservation, forage production, game cover, as an ornamental grass, in phytoremediation projects, fiber, electricity, heat production, for biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and more recently as a biomass crop for ethanol and butanol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet sorghum</span> Any of the varieties of the sorghum plant with a high sugar content

Sweet sorghum or sorgo is any of the many varieties of the sorghum grass whose stalks have a high sugar content. Sweet sorghum thrives better under drier and warmer conditions than many other crops and is grown primarily for forage, silage, and syrup production.

Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol produced from cellulose rather than from the plant's seeds or fruit. It can be produced from grasses, wood, algae, or other plants. It is generally discussed for use as a biofuel. The carbon dioxide that plants absorb as they grow offsets some of the carbon dioxide emitted when ethanol made from them is burned, so cellulosic ethanol fuel has the potential to have a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genetically modified crops</span> Plants used in agriculture

Genetically modified crops are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of Agrobacterium for the delivery of sequences hosted in T-DNA binary vectors. In most cases, the aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species. Examples in food crops include resistance to certain pests, diseases, environmental conditions, reduction of spoilage, resistance to chemical treatments, or improving the nutrient profile of the crop. Examples in non-food crops include production of pharmaceutical agents, biofuels, and other industrially useful goods, as well as for bioremediation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syngenta</span> Global provider of agricultural science and technology

Syngenta is a global agricultural technology company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. It primarily covers crop protection and seeds for farmers. Syngenta is part of the Syngenta Group, entirely owned by Sinochem, a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pioneer Hi Bred International</span> American producer of hybrid seeds for agriculture

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. is a U.S.-based producer of seeds for agriculture. They are a major producer of genetically modified crops with insect and herbicide resistance.

Devgen is a Belgium-based multinational agricultural biotechnology company. It uses biotechnology and molecular breeding technologies to develop varieties of food crops. Its technology is marketed by outlicensing or selling seeds in India and South-East Asia. Devgen also develops nematicides.

Roundup Ready is the Monsanto trademark for its patented line of genetically modified crop seeds that are resistant to its glyphosate-based herbicide, Roundup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable biofuel</span> Non-fossil-based sustainable production

Sustainable biofuel is biofuel produced in a sustainable manner. It is not based on petroleum or other fossil fuels. It includes not using plants that are used for food stuff to produce the fuel thus disrupting the world's food supply.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SmartStax</span> Seeds protected against bugs, weeds

SmartStax is a brand of genetically modified seed made through a collaboration between Monsanto Company and Dow Chemical Company. It takes advantage of multiple modes of insect protection and herbicide tolerance. SmartStax takes advantage of Yieldgard VT Triple (Monsanto), Herculex Xtra (Dow), RoundUp Ready 2 (Monsanto), and Liberty Link (Dow). The traits included protect against above-ground insects, below-ground insects, and provide broad herbicide tolerance. It is currently available for corn, but cotton, soybean, and specialty crop variations are to be released. Previously, the most genes artificially added to a single plant was three, but Smartstax includes eight. Smartstax also incorporates Monsanto's Acceleron Seed Treatment System which protects against insects at the earliest stages of development. Smartstax is sold under the Genuity (Monsanto) and Mycogen (Dow) brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asgrow</span> American seed company

Asgrow is a seed company owned and operated by Bayer Crop Science.

Genetically modified wheat is wheat that has been genetically engineered by the direct manipulation of its genome using biotechnology. As of 2020, no GM wheat is grown commercially, although many field tests have been conducted, with one wheat variety, Bioceres HB4 Wheat, obtaining regulatory approval from the Argentinean government.

BASF Plant Science is a subsidiary of BASF in which all plant biotechnology activities are consolidated. The company was founded in 1998 and employs approximately 700 people at 6 different locations worldwide. The headquarters of BASF Plant Science is located in Research Triangle Park and has research sites in the US, Canada, and Europe. The company mainly develops genetically modified seeds at these locations.

Yield10 Bioscience is a company developing new technologies to achieve improvements in crop yield to enhance global food security.

Monsanto was involved in several high-profile lawsuits, as both plaintiff and defendant. It had been defendant in a number of lawsuits over health and environmental issues related to its products. Monsanto also made frequent use of the courts to defend its patents, particularly in the area of agricultural biotechnology. Bayer acquired Monsanto in 2018, and the company has since been involved in litigation related to ex-Monsanto products such as glyphosate, PCBs and dicamba. In 2020 it paid over $10 billion to settle lawsuits involving the glyphosate based herbicide Roundup.

MBI (the Michigan Biotechnology Institute) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) biotechnology research accelerator based in Lansing, Michigan. MBI came into existence in 1982 through a joint collaboration between the State of Michigan and a few different organizations, including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. MBI's original goal, as stated by Russell G. Mawby, chairman and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, was to "link university research with applications of biotechnology to expand our forest and agricultural industries, create jobs, and further improve the state's economic situation." The W.K. Kellogg foundation made a 4-year, $10 million grant to carry out this objective.

Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co. (Mahyco) is an agricultural company based in Indiaand a major producer of seeds. As of 2015, the company also operates in Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Bangladesh, with plans for expansion into Africa. The company produces seeds for cotton, wheat, rice, sorghum, pearl millet, maize oilseeds and vegetables crops. Through a joint venture with Monsanto named Mahyco Monsanto Biotech, Mahyco sublicenses Bt cotton technology in India. The Indian government has maintained price controls on Bt cotton seeds since at least 2011.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Herndon, Andrew (2012-02-22). "Ceres Rises on First Trading Day for Biofuels Crop Company". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  2. ↑ Shah, Aman (2012-01-25). "Ceres Inc sees IPO priced at $21-$23/share". Reuters . Archived from the original on 2012-01-26. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  3. ↑ "Ceres to seed sorghum in Brazil". Ethanol Producer Magazine. 2010-09-23. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  4. ↑ JACOBS, PAUL (1999-12-31). "A Few Rush to Exploit New Biotech Crops". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  5. ↑ "Monsanto to invest $137 million in Ceres collaboration, stake". St. Louis Business Journal. 2002-04-03. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  6. 1 2 "Ceres from 10-K for 2015".
  7. ↑ "Ceres Announces Fiscal Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results". 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  8. 1 2 Dickerson, Marla (2012-01-25). "California biofuel firm Ceres plans public offering". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  9. ↑ "Ceres Unveils Switchgrass Seed Brand for Cellulosic Feedstock". Sustainable Business. 2008-01-05. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  10. ↑ "Land O'Lakes Acquires Ag Biotech Developer Ceres Inc". hayandforage.com. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  11. ↑ de Vries, G.E (2000-06-01). "Ceres and Genset milestone". Trends in Plant Science. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  12. ↑ DeFrancesco, Laura (2000-07-18). "Tour de force—near complete expression analysis of Arabidopsis genes". Bioprocess Online. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  13. ↑ "Ceres Noble Master Research Agreement".
  14. ↑ Ann Hinch for Farmworld Online May 7 2008 Genome firm will sell biomass seeds for ’09 growing season
  15. ↑ Zimmerman, Cindy (2010-05-20). "Novozymes and Ceres Partner on Biofuel Crops". Domestic Fuel. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  16. ↑ "Energy crop company Ceres receives additional $3.5M from USAID for trait stacks for rice". Green Car Congress. 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
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