American Cyanamid Company and Michigan State University have signed a global licensing agreement to bring a powerful new technology for weed control to the production of sugar beets.

Researchers at Michigan State (MSU) have developed new varieties of sugar beets with tolerance
to Cyanamid's broad-spectrum environmentally compatible imidazolinone herbicides. Through this
agreement Cyanamid will make these new herbicide tolerance genetics available to sugar beet seed companies through sublicensing. This global agreement between MSU and Cyanamid secures Cyanamid's global rights to sugar beets, the fifth crop to be brought into the CLEARFIELD* Production System.

The Michigan State scientists identified and isolated the imidazolinone tolerance using somatic cell selection techniques. The new lines being developed do not involve genetic engineering and no genes were introduced from any other organism. Cyanamid is currently conducting studies required to obtain regulatory approval for imidazolinone use on sugar beets.

The imidazolinones, part of the CLEARFIELD* Production System, are a unique family of crop
protection products for weed control that were developed by Cyanamid Agricultural Products
Research Division. The imidazolinones work on an enzyme that is present in plants but not in
animals, birds, fish or insects. This selectivity makes the imidazolinones environmentally compatible while providing outstanding weed control.

"Through the use of innovative cell culture techniques, MSU scientists have unleashed the naturally occurring hidden potential of tolerance to imidazolinone herbicides in sugar beets,'' said Donald Penner Ph.D., professor of crop and soil sciences at MSU. "Now sugar beet growers will be able to grow sugar beets on land used for alternative crops to which imidazolinone herbicides have been applied without worrying about lengthy rotational intervals. This also opens the door to the use of certain imidazolinone herbicides for superior weed control in sugar beets.''

"The addition of sugar beets to the CLEARFIELD Production System provides growers many
new opportunities for their beet production,'' said Vic Smith, assistant vice president of herbicide
tolerant crops at Cyanamid. "In addition to the CLEARFIELD system being the only herbicide
tolerant system that provides both contact and residual control, CLEARFIELD system herbicides
have an outstanding environmental profile and are effective at much lower application rates than any other herbicide tolerant cropping system.''

"This important new agreement strengthens Cyanamid's portfolio of herbicide tolerant technology,''
adds Smith. "Though our collaborators, in both genetics and technology, Cyanamid maintains the
broadest portfolio of non-transgenic herbicide tolerant traits.''

Cyanamid was the first to market a herbicide tolerant crop with the release of imidazolinone tolerant maize in 1992, followed by imidazolinone tolerant canola, known as SMART® canola in Canada, in 1995.

American Cyanamid Company is a subsidiary of American Home Products Corporation, which is one of the world's largest research-based pharmaceutical and health care product companies. AHP is a leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications. It is also a global leader in vaccines, biotechnology, agricultural products, and animal health care.

The UNIQUE CLEARFIELD symbol, CLEARFIELD, and SMART are trademarks of American Cyanamid Company.

Company news release
N2242