DuPont Crop Protection and Affymax Technologies, N.V. today announced a research and development agreement that will provide DuPont access to Affymax chemical libraries for testing against crop protection targets of interest to DuPont. Under the terms of the agreement, Affymax will receive payment for access to, and testing of, compounds, plus potential milestones and royalties. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

``We are excited about the collaborative agreement with Affymax and the potential to identify novel chemical solutions for helping farmers worldwide meet their pest control needs,'' said Elmo Beyer, vice president for strategic R&D planning for DuPont's agriculture and nutrition businesses.

``We are eager to explore agricultural applications for the combinatorial chemistry and high throughput screening developed by Affymax for pharmaceutical discovery,'' said Dan Hess, senior director of the AffyAgro Unit of Affymax Research Institute. ``DuPont's extensive experience in progressing hits and leads to useful products for agriculture is an ideal complement to our discovery technology and chemical diversity.''

Affymax, a wholly owned subsidiary of Glaxo Wellcome, is a leader in the field of combinatorial chemistry with a powerful portfolio of technologies that enable efficient synthesis, screening
and optimization of vast numbers of potential new pharmaceuticals.

DuPont is a science company, delivering science-based solutions that make a difference in people's lives in food and nutrition; health care; apparel; home and construction; electronics; and transportation. Founded in 1802, the company operates in 65 countries and has 97,000 employees. 

Company news release
N2451