The intersection of innovation and regulatory – specifically when it comes to food is health – is a growing conversation. This week, we are joined by Dave Riggs, Business Cluster Unit President for Eurofins SFA, to talk laboratory science, consulting food brands around the world and health emerging as a trend on their minds. We get into:
Profluent will design novel gene editing systems using its AI protein design platform, which Corteva will evaluate for agricultural applications
Profluent Bio, a pioneer in generative AI for protein design, announced today a strategic collaboration with Corteva, a global leader in agricultural sciences and solutions. Under the collaboration, the companies will use artificial intelligence (AI) and gene editing to deliver a new generation of more sustainable, resilient crops.
The collaboration, which is enabled through Corteva’s Catalyst platform, will focus on designing targeted, AI-driven gene-editing solutions within Corteva’s industry leading Genlytix™ ecosystem.
Profluent’s advances in generative biology include its foundation model, ProGen3, trained on the company’s proprietary Protein Atlas of more than 80 billion protein sequences, and OpenCRISPR-1™, the first AI-created genome editor. By combining Profluent’s foundation models and know-how with Corteva’s global R&D engine, the partners aim to accelerate the development of a flexible toolkit for innovative crop engineering.
“This partnership shows the broad applicability of our AI design platform in generating functional biological sequences across industries,” said Ali Madani, CEO of Profluent Bio. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with Corteva, one of the world’s foremost agricultural innovators, whose leadership in plant science and field validation ensures advanced technologies make a real difference in agriculture. Our work with Corteva signals the abundance of opportunities ahead as AI unlocks breakthrough solutions to real challenges in biology.”
Corteva is a global pure-play agriculture company investing in industry-leading innovation to discover and deliver a diverse mix of seed, crop protection, and digital products and services to enable farmers in more than 100 countries around the world. Corteva’s Genlytix™ ecosystem is a set of industry-leading capabilities that enable gene editing and its future role in plant breeding, including precision to improve yield, pest resistance, tolerance to drought and heat, and quality.
“We’re excited to collaborate with Profluent as we work to develop next-generation solutions to address the new and growing challenges facing agriculture,” said Tom Greene, senior director at Corteva and global leader for Corteva Catalyst. “By combining our existing gene editing expertise with Profluent’s foundation models in protein design, we have the opportunity to engineer next-generation gene editing tools that improve precision, expand functionality, and create dependable solutions for growers worldwide.”
The financials of this agreement were not disclosed.
Close of transaction sets the stage for strong North American leadership in soy and corn, market growth and greater value for growers.
GDM, a global plant genetics company committed to empowering farmers and advancing global agriculture, today announced the successful completion of its acquisition of 100% of the shares in AgReliant Genetics, a leading North American provider of corn and soybean seeds. The acquisition represents a major step forward in GDM’s North American growth strategy. By combining AgReliant’s market leadership in corn breeding and genetics in the USA with GDM’s global scale and reputation for world-class innovation in elite row crop genetics, GDM can deliver greater innovation, value and choice to North American farmers.
“Today marks a transformative moment in the history of our company and journey in the North American market,” said Ignacio Bartolomé, chief executive officer (CEO), GDM. “By welcoming AgReliant into the GDM family, we are creating a North American agricultural powerhouse poised to offer farmers an unmatched portfolio of high-performance seed solutions in soybeans and corn.”
The completion of the acquisition significantly expands GDM’s North American footprint, which now includes GDM’s leading soybean genetic licensing business and DONMARIO, Mustang, Revere and Virtue brands, as well as critical AgReliant assets such as the well-known AgriGold®, LG Seeds and PRIDE® Seeds brands; one of the world’s largest temperate corn genetic pools; and the fourth largest corn research program in North America.
With today’s transaction close, GDM enhances its position as the global leader in soybean genetics and rises to become the fourth-largest corn genetics provider worldwide. Brian Barker, formerly CEO of AgReliant, takes on the role of GDM’s North American President effective immediately.
“Today marks a powerful step forward as we unite under a shared purpose – to be exceptional partners to our customers and advance agriculture in a way that consistently drives higher seed and yield performance,” said Barker. “Together, we are building a more powerful, innovative and integrated portfolio of seed solutions that creates more choice, more value and greater yield potential to North American growers.” MAP LATAM served as advisor and Rabobank as co-advisor to the transaction.
Developing and recruiting next generation talent is a critical topic for all industries and agbioscience leaders are no stranger to the conversation. This week, we are joined by National FFA CEO, Scott Stump, to examine how young leaders are developed, getting them engaged in agbioscience and looking ahead to the excitement that is October for National FFA in Indianapolis as their Convention and Expo looms near. We get into:
Global agriculture technology leader Corteva (NYSE: CTVA) announced today that its Board of Directors has unanimously approved a plan to separate the company into two independent, publicly traded companies, one comprising its current Crop Protection business (“New Corteva”) and the other comprising its current Seed business (“SpinCo”).
The separation will unleash two distinct market leaders, both farmer-centric, both with technology and innovation at their core and both with operating models and capital allocation priorities tailored to support their respective growth outlooks, strategic directions and value propositions. Upon separation, current Corteva Chair Greg Page will become Chair of New Corteva; current Corteva CEO Chuck Magro will become CEO of SpinCo. Full board and management teams of both companies will be announced at a later date, followed by other key information.
“Over the past six years, we have taken deliberate steps to build a strong, successful technology company: we simplified our portfolio, reduced cost, invested in high-return endeavors and ensured our pipeline would maximize impact to farmers and returns to the company. As a result, Corteva has become the clear industry leader, with market-leading positions in both crop protection and seed. As we look to the future, we want to best position both businesses to win in their respective markets and accelerate value for shareholders,” said Corteva CEO Chuck Magro.
Magro continued, “The seed and crop protection markets have evolved, and as a result, we see the opportunities ahead for both companies diverging – this is the right time to act to stay ahead of the market. This separation will allow both businesses to maximize long-term value creation by focusing on their own priorities. As such, we see this separation as the logical next step in their growth trajectory.”
Each business is expected to benefit from the separation through the following:
Over the past few years, with its focus on efficiency and differentiation, the business that will become New Corteva has been a strong performer in an industry experiencing intensifying competition. Today, while the industry is well supplied – not only in production and capacity, but also with market participants – the market continues to value effective, differentiated technology, and this focus will help the company continue to stand apart from its peers.
New Corteva will nonetheless operate in an industry that will need to compete differently in the future. As such, it will continue its progress towards an optimized supply chain and have a laser focus on maximizing shareholder returns, operational excellence and the next generation of sustainable, differentiated innovation – including biologicals, the industry’s fastest growing market segment.
As a scaled, standalone company, New Corteva’s capital structure and targeted investment-grade credit rating will be tailored for a business model designed to support future capital needs and deliver consistent growth over time. Capital will be directed towards organic investment in differentiated solutions, innovation to bring advanced sustainable solutions to farmers, and disciplined M&A to expand market positions in attractive portfolios or geographies.
New Corteva’s partners will benefit from its focused, more optimized route to market. In addition, the company will be able to drive more effective channel management. New Corteva will also benefit from enhanced strategic flexibility, collaboration and partnership across the industry to drive efficiency and value.
Through a focus on returns, targeted investment and operational excellence, New Corteva will help farmers solve some of their toughest challenges and continue to lead the industry in crop protection. 2025 net sales attributable to New Corteva are estimated to total $7.8 billion, representing 44% of net sales for Corteva.
SpinCo will deploy advanced genetics to discover and develop groundbreaking solutions that help farmers around the world improve yield, enhance sustainability and strengthen crop health. As home to the Pioneer® brand, it will launch from a position of strength: Pioneer’s century-long track record of advanced breeding, market leadership and financial strength is unmatched in the industry. SpinCo, a classic growth compounder, will also leverage other opportunities, including the strength of its regional anchor brands, including Dairyland Seed®; its partnership with retailers through brands like Brevant®; and growing presence in the out-licensing market.
As a scaled standalone company, SpinCo will target an investment-grade rating, with capital allocation priorities tailored to its growth model. This will include targeted M&A, sustained investment in R&D and the fulfillment of existing opportunities: out-licensing, hybrid wheat, biofuels and gene editing.
By consistently delivering value to farmers and shareholders alike, SpinCo will deliver its next phase of innovation-driven growth. 2025 net sales attributable to SpinCo are estimated to total $9.9 billion, representing 56% of net sales for Corteva.
The separation is expected to be effected through a spin-off of SpinCo that is intended to qualify as a tax-free transaction for U.S. federal tax purposes to Corteva shareholders.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026, subject to certain conditions, including, among others, obtaining final approval by the Corteva Board of Directors, receipt of a favorable opinion of legal counsel with respect to the tax-free nature of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and effectiveness of a Form 10 registration statement to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Corteva may, at any time and for any reason until the proposed transaction is complete, abandon the separation or modify or change its terms.
