Monsanto

Monsanto 1
US chemical company formed in the early 20th century. Historically Monsanto was involved with the production of PCBs, dioxins and the defoliant/chemical weapon Agent Orange. By the 1990s, as well as a rapidly expanding interest in GM crops Monsanto was involved in agrochemicals, seeds, chemicals, sweeteners, GM Bovine Growth Hormone, polymers and pharmaceuticals. Monsanto span off its chemicals division in 1997 to form Solutia. Throughout the 1990's Monsanto bought up a number of seed companies (including PBI Cambridge in 1998) and during the mid 1990s began aggressively to push the commercialisation of GM crops.
Whilst this was successful in the US, Monsanto's pro-GM PR campaign in Europe disastrously backfired and it rapidly became a focus for international opposition to GM crops. Monsanto has conducted UK field trials of GM crops since 1995. See: www.corporatewatch.org.uk/profiles/biotech/monsanto/monsanto1.html

Monsanto 2
In 2000 Monsanto merged with Pharmacia & Upjohn and was renamed Pharmacia. The bovine growth hormone, agrochemical, GM crops and seed business retained the Monsanto name and was run as a subsidiary 87% owned by Pharmacia. In 2002 Monsanto and DuPont agreed to drop a number of outstanding legal actions and entered into an important technology and patent sharing agreement.

Monsanto 3
In mid-2002 Pharmacia sold its remaining stake in Monsanto. Monsanto is now a relatively small stand-alone agricultural company, a fraction of its size in the mid 1990s. The majority of its income comes from sales of Roundup herbicide and GM crops. Monsanto is the biggest seller of GM crops in the world with big sales in US, Canada and Argentina and smaller sales in India and South Africa. In the UK Monsanto is currently taking a backseat to Bayer's attempts at GM commercialisation.
Monsanto has 2 varieties of GM sugar beet, developed in conjunction with Syngenta, which are most of the way through the UK commercialisation process. Monsanto is helping to flood Europe with new GM applications putting pressure on the EU to drop its moratorium. Monsanto is currently pushing for the commercialisation of GM wheat in the US and Canada. All is not going well at Monsanto: its share price plummeted in the second half of 2002 following the sell off by Pharmacia, compounded by the departure of its CEO at the end of the year.

Pioneer Hi-Bred
The world's largest seed company founded in the US in 1926. Pioneer was bought by DuPont in 1998. Pioneer markets GM crops including many containing licensed GM crop traits from Monsanto and Bayer/Aventis. Pioneer has conducted a small number of GM crop trials in the UK.

PBI Cambridge
Plant Breeding International Cambridge is a major UK based cereals and potato breeder. PBI was originally founded as the publicly owned Plant Breeding Institute and was then bought by Unilever in 1987. PBI conducted several of its own GM field trials in the mid 1990s before being bought by Monsanto in 1998.

DuPont
DuPont is a US chemical company founded in the early 19th century. DuPont's background is in explosives, polymers, chemicals, petroleum and pharmaceuticals. It was also heavily involved in the Manhattan Project (US Atom Bomb development). By the late 1990s DuPont had shed its petroleum business and became a life science company. In 1998 it bought Pioneer Hi-Bred and became the world's largest seed company. DuPont sold its pharmaceutical interests to Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2001. DuPont markets GM crops through Pioneer Hi-Bred. It has plans to manufacture industrial products (e.g. polymers) from GM crops. Pioneer and DuPont have had comparatively little involvement in GM crops in the UK. At a global scale they are still very important. DuPont entered into a technology sharing agreement with Monsanto in 2002. See: www.corporatewatch.org.uk/profiles /biotech/dupont/dupont1.html

Monsanto Company
(global headquarters)
Creve Coeur Campus, 800 North Lindbergh,
St Louis, Missouri 63167, USA
www.monsanto.com www.farmsource.com

Monsanto UK LTD/ Monsanto Cambridge (PBI) (UK Headquarters and Research and Development)
Hauxton Road, Trumpington,
Cambridge, CB2 2LQ England
Tel: 01223 849200
www.monsanto.co.uk

Monsanto UK Limited
(UK corporate & public affairs)
Suite 23, Tulip House,
70 Borough High Street, London SE1 1XF
Tel: 020-7864-9913

Biotech family tree guide: Syngenta l Bayer l Resources