Akkadix Corporation announced today that the merger through which it was formed has been completed, and that its board of directors has confirmed the election of agricultural biotechnology pioneer Jerry Caulder as chairman and chief executive officer of the new company.

Caulder said that the merger combines the comprehensive biotechnology platform of Xyris Corp., formerly a majority owned affiliate of Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., with the agricultural and plant gene assets of Global Agro, Inc., to create a company that is focusing on development of novel plant traits, improved seed lines and crop protection products.

"Akkadix is now actively working at the molecular level on gene regulation of our existing collection of plant genes and on several discovery programs to identify novel genes for other targeted traits in plants," said Caulder, who had been chairman and CEO of Xyris since its formation in 1998. "At the plant breeding level, we are developing improved seed lines of corn, sunflower and certain other crops. "The combined talents, technology and intellectual property of the merged companies will enable us to accelerate our internal development programs, ensure market access for our traits and allow us to pursue broader opportunities and attract additional alliance partners," Caulder said.

Gary Richardson, a founder of Global Agro in 1995, will serve as Akkadix's president and chief operating officer. Richardson previously worked with Caulder at Mycogen Corp., an agricultural biotechnology and seed company that was acquired by Dow Chemical in 1998.

"Global Agro needed access to deeper biotech capabilities to advance development of crop enhancement traits based on the proprietary genes that we licensed from the Salk Institute," Richardson said. "Xyris' capabilities in genomics, structural biology, bioinformatics and
combinatorial chemistry are a perfect complement to our plant enhancement genes and our germplasm collection."

The all-stock merger transaction included contribution to Akkadix of Xyris' and Global Agro's research and technology licensing agreements with Axys Pharmaceuticals, The Salk Institute and the University of Edinburgh. The new company also assumes responsibility for collaborations with AgriBiotech, Inc. and Forage Genetics, Inc., a subsidiary of Land O' Lakes of Wisconsin. Axys Pharmaceuticals retains an equity interest in Akkadix.

Akkadix applies advanced life science technologies to discover and characterize novel genes that can be incorporated into plants to make them resistant to disease and pests, increase plant vigor and productivity and enhance the quantity and quality of agricultural outputs such as oil, starch, fiber and nutrition. The company also maintains cooperative germplasm relationships with more than 25 companies around the world.

Company news release
N2092