Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. announced today the appointment of David W. Summa as President and CEO. 

He replaces Dr. Michael Fromm who has resigned. 

Summa previously was with Monsanto Company. At Monsanto he was Vice President of the
Global Oilseeds Division and before that, Vice President of the Food, Feed & Fiber Division.
During his tenure at Monsanto he launched Monsanto's quality trait program and negotiated a
number of alliances and joint ventures, including the Renessen joint venture with Cargill. Prior to
Monsanto, Summa was a partner at McKinsey & Co. where he led the Global Innovation Practice
and served technology-based clients globally. He has been associated with the plant biotechnology industry since 1992 and has made several significant innovations in the plant biotechnology field including the grower license agreement as a sustainable way to capture value from biotechnology. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering, both from MIT. 

"We are very pleased to have Dave join Mendel's management team,'' said Chris Somerville,
Chairman of the Board. "He has the expertise and drive to lead Mendel in its continued growth.
He also has the vision to develop existing and new markets for the many product leads Mendel has identified using Mendel's functional genomics platform.'' 

Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. is a functional genomics company. The company identifies and
develops leads for improving plant characteristics for agriculture, pharmaceuticals, specialty
ingredients, horticulture and forestry using its functional genomics platform. Mendel has already
identified several significant leads including those that: 

• improve plants' tolerance to weather-related stresses in order to enhance crop yield and to reduce the risks growers must face annually; 
• improve plants' tolerance to pests and disease; 
• improve the sugar, protein and oil content of plants; and improve the economic value of plants via changes to plant architecture. 

Mendel also has a pharmaceutical and specialty ingredient product development program to
commercialize other important discoveries. Mendel employs over 50 people and is a privately held
company located in Hayward, California.

Company news release
N2515