Andrew Baum, well known in the biotech business arena almost since its inception, has been appointed the new President & CEO of SemBioSys Genetics Inc. of Calgary.

Prior to joining SemBioSys Genetics, Baum was a Director of Business Development of the Monsanto Company and President of the Oils Division of Calgene Inc., a pioneering company in agricultural biotechnology. Baum assumes his new position immediately.

The move to bring Baum to Canada is enthusiastically supported by Dow AgroSciences Canada Inc., a biotechnology company which plays a leading investment role in Canada's agriculture science progress and is one of the founding shareholders of SemBioSys Genetics Inc.

"SemBioSys has added more depth to the Canadian biotech industry and strengthened its scope by attracting someone of Andrew's caliber" says Rick Smith, CEO of Dow AgroSciences Canada Inc. "Dow AgroSciences' investment in SemBioSys is part of our company's overall strategy to build a business based on output agriculture." Output agriculture refers to crops that have been modified or enhanced to produce a specific end product or output trait.

SemBioSys Genetics Inc., through its primary inventor, Dr. Maurice Moloney, is the developer of proprietary technology allowing specific protein production in oilseeds to meet a range of end product targets such as enzymes, pharmaceuticals, or nutritional products. Dr. Moloney, also a founding shareholder of SemBioSys Genetics Inc., will continue to lead the R & D efforts of the company in his formal capacity as Vice President of Research and Development.

The vision behind the technology is to provide Canadian farmers with alternative and profitable markets for their crops."We believe that coupling the outstanding science of Dr. Moloney and his world class team of research scientists with Andrew's proven business leadership will be a major catalyst in bringing SemBioSys' technology to full commercialization," said E. Richard Elenko, SemBioSys' chairman.

The other founding shareholder in SemBioSys, the University of Calgary, through its wholly owned subsidiary, University Technologies International Inc., has become well-known for its partnership philosophy with industry. SemBioSys is another example of the University of
Calgary working with industry in commercializing successful, leading edge scientific research.

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