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DuPont (NYSE: DD) and Bayer CropScience have entered into a series of long-term business agreements related to key plant biotechnology traits and enabling technologies that will help increase agricultural productivity around the world.

These agreements create significant value capture opportunities for both parties through herbicide and seed sales as well as royalties. The agreements establish cross-licenses that will enable next generation seed solutions and weed and insect control strategies from Bayer CropScience and the DuPont Crop Protection and Pioneer Hi-Bred businesses. The agreements also resolve outstanding legal and patent disputes between the companies in the area of insect control and herbicide safeners.

“These agreements are good news for farmers who will benefit from the cross-licensing of innovative technologies from both companies,” said James C. Borel, DuPont group vice president. “DuPont and Bayer have a strong history of working together, and these agreements set the stage for additional collaboration between the two companies.”

“Growers will benefit worldwide from new herbicide products, new multi-insect-control and multi-herbicide-tolerant products in corn as well as multi-herbicide-tolerant products in soybeans,” said Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Berschauer, chairman of the board of management of Bayer CropScience. “For Bayer CropScience, the agreements provide an excellent basis to further extend the reach and value capture through royalties for our proprietary biotech solutions.”

Within the framework of these agreements, Bayer CropScience grants Pioneer licenses to use the LibertyLink(R) trademark in Pioneer proprietary corn and soybean germplasm. In addition, Bayer CropScience will provide Pioneer with worldwide regulatory support for Pioneer products comprising the LibertyLink(R) trait. The company also enables Pioneer to use the glufosinate-tolerance technology in soybean product development.

In the area of insect resistance, Bayer CropScience provides Pioneer with licenses under its Dual Bt patents, with limited rights to grant sublicenses for development of next generation insect resistance management in corn.

As part of the agreements, Bayer CropScience grants DuPont Crop Protection rights to continue to offer its DuPont(TM) Q product formulations containing the Bayer herbicide safener isoxadifen. These corn postemergence herbicides provide growers with improved crop safety. DuPont also receives rights to offer blends of isoxadifen with certain defined HPPD herbicides and its sulfonylurea herbicides as well as licenses that will enable DuPont to introduce a broad class of future crop protection product offerings.

A number of other cross-licenses on enabling technologies between the two companies also are included in the agreements. Further details of the agreements were not disclosed.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 6.4 billion (2008), is one of the world’s leading innovative cropscience companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global work force of more than 18,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.press.bayercropscience.com.

DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation. Further information is available at: www.dupont.com

Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. announced today that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide research and commercial license agreement for Chromatin’s proprietary gene stacking technology in sugar cane.

Chromatin has developed a novel approach to gene stacking, using the plant’s own DNA to deliver several genes. Under this agreement, Syngenta has obtained exclusive rights to use Chromatin’s stacking technology for trait genes in all members of the genus Saccharum which includes commercial sugar cane varieties as well as energy cane, and crosses between Saccharum and other plant species. Syngenta obtained non-exclusive rights for use of this stacking technology in corn and soybean in 2007.

Sugar cane is among the top crops grown today for use in sugar production and biofuels. Syngenta offers a broad range of crop protection products for sugar cane growers and is developing a novel planting technology planned for launch in 2010 under the brand name Plene(TM) that will help reduce production costs. New trait combinations in sugar cane could offer growers additional improvements in production efficiency and yield increases.

“Sugar cane growers and processors will benefit economically and environmentally from access to a combination of advanced traits that this technology could make,” said Ian Jepson, Global R&D sugar cane crop lead. “This new stacking technology, combined with the advanced plant varieties, crop protection choices, and our revolutionary new Plene technology will ensure our customers will have the best solutions in sugar cane and will give us a leading position especially in the large Brazilian market.”

“Chromatin is pleased to continue our work with Syngenta,” said Daphne Preuss, Chromatin’s chief executive officer and president. “The broad Syngenta pipeline and crop production programs make them an ideal partner for us in applying Chromatin’s gene stacking technology in sugar cane worldwide.”

Further terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Syngenta is one of the world’s leading companies with more than 24,000 employees in over 90 countries dedicated to our purpose: Bringing plant potential to life. Through world-class science, global reach and commitment to our customers we help to increase crop productivity, protect the environment and improve health and quality of life. For more information about us please go to www.syngenta.com.

Mylan Inc. (Nasdaq: MYL) today announced that it has executed a definitive agreement with Biocon Limited, a publicly traded company on the Indian stock exchanges, for an exclusive collaboration on the development, manufacturing, supply and commercialization of multiple, high value generic biologic compounds for the global marketplace. Through this partnership, Mylan and Biocon bring together highly complementary capabilities that will significantly advance their efforts to secure a leading position in the emerging generic biologics industry.

Mylan’s Chairman and CEO Robert J. Coury commented: “Biocon is a first-class, highly respected organization, and I am extremely excited to be able to announce what I consider to be one of the more comprehensive and high quality biologics initiatives reported within the industry to date. After working with our Senior Vice President and Head of Global Biologics Dr. Patrick Vink and conducting extensive due diligence, I can tell you that Biocon is truly an ideal partner for Mylan.”

Coury continued: “This unique collaboration combines Biocon’s scientific expertise; excellent product development track record; appreciation of complex regulatory requirements; and state-of-the-art, cost-efficient and scalable biologics manufacturing with Mylan’s one-of-a-kind global commercial footprint and our regulatory expertise around the world. Biocon also has a unique corporate culture that is very similar to Mylan’s. All of these attributes will provide a critical synergy and create a strong and effective long-term partnership. Generic biologics, especially monoclonal antibodies, are expected to become the next great bolus of growth in the generic pharmaceutical industry, and through this alliance, Mylan and Biocon have covered all four corners of what any organization would want or need to have secured to offer a highly competitive and distinct generic biologics product portfolio with tremendous growth potential for the coming decade.”

Biocon Chairman and Managing Director Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw commented: “Biocon is extremely pleased to have found a partner as strong as Mylan to accelerate our work in generic biologics, especially with monoclonal antibodies, and take it to the next level around the world, especially in regulated markets. I am confident that our shared vision for the sector, complementary skills, mutual respect and work ethic will make this collaboration a remarkable success while bringing additional value to Biocon and its shareholders. Monoclonal antibodies are emerging as the most dominant class in biologics. Through this partnership we hope to deliver high quality, affordable biogeneric antibodies and biologics, thereby addressing a critical need to lower spiraling healthcare costs in both the developed and emerging economies.”

As part of this collaboration, Mylan and Biocon will share development, capital and certain other costs to bring products to market. Mylan will have exclusive commercialization rights in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and in the European Union and European Free Trade Association countries through a profit sharing arrangement with Biocon. Mylan will have co-exclusive commercialization rights with Biocon in all other markets around the world. All other financial terms and product details remain confidential.

Mylan Inc., which provides products to customers in more than 140 countries and territories, ranks among the leading diversified generics and specialty pharmaceutical companies in the world. The company maintains one of the industry’s broadest — and highest quality — product portfolios, supported by a robust product pipeline; owns a controlling interest in the world’s third largest active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer; and operates a specialty business focused on respiratory and allergy therapies. For more information, visit www.mylan.com.

Established in 1978, Biocon Limited is one of India’s premier biotechnology companies. Together with its group companies, Biocon forms a fully integrated biotechnology enterprise, specializing in biopharmaceuticals, custom research and clinical research, which deliver products and solutions to partners and customers across the globe. Biocon launched the world’s first recombinant human insulin, INSUGEN(R) in November 2004 using Pichia expression and India’s first indigenously produced monoclonal antibody BIOMAb-EGFR(TM). Focusing on unmet medical needs in cancer, diabetes and inflammatory diseases, Biocon offers novel therapies on a platform of affordable innovation. Biocon’s strategic licensing partnerships provide market penetration and global access to deliver breakthrough therapeutics to millions of patients the world over. For more information, visit www.biocon.com.

Bayer CropScience AG and Monsanto Company have agreed to cross license their respective herbicide tolerance traits in rapeseed/canola on a non-exclusive basis for commercialization within their respective branded canola seed businesses. Canola is a form of rapeseed primarily grown in North America and Australia.

Under the terms of this global agreement, Monsanto will grant Bayer CropScience access to Monsanto’s Genuity(TM) Roundup Ready(R) canola trait and Bayer CropScience will grant Monsanto access to its LibertyLink(R) tolerance trait for use in canola. The agreement also includes specified rights to access, on a non-exclusive basis, future herbicide tolerance traits and other agronomic traits that may be introduced by either party for use in canola. Further details of the agreement were not disclosed.

“Bayer looks forward to providing canola growers with greater choice and flexibility in the future,” said Dr. Joachim Schneider, Head of the BioScience Business Unit at Bayer CropScience. “LibertyLink(R) and Genuity(TM) Roundup Ready(R) are the two leading weed control systems available in the marketplace today and growers will be able to choose our seed with either system, or even both, in around three to four years time.”

This global agreement between the two trait developers enhances the opportunity to bring new and improved solutions to growers.

“This agreement builds on our practice of broadly licensing our technologies to bring value to farmers,” said Neil Arbuckle, Monsanto’s Canola Business Development Lead. “Canola oil is one of the healthiest oils available and as such, plays a key role in the global vegetable oil market. With this new agreement, farmers will benefit from greater access to new traits and new technologies that will help ensure canola remains competitive in the global marketplace.”

About Bayer CropScience

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 6.4 billion (2008), is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 18,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries. Further information on Bayer CropScience is available at: www.bayercropscience.com.

About Monsanto

Monsanto Company is an agricultural company and a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while conserving more of our world’s natural resources such as water and energy. To learn more about Monsanto’s business and our commitments visit www.monsanto.com.

The physicians of Hematology-Oncology Associates, P.C in Albuquerque, N.M., an eight provider community based specialty practice caring for adults with cancers and blood disorders, today announced they have entered into an agreement with Oncology Pharmaceutical Services (OPS) to secure its oncology drug purchasing, distribution services, and the support of an oncology-trained consultant pharmacist.

By working with OPS, a service of US Oncology, Inc., Hematology-Oncology Associates has access to a range of services focused on enhancing the performance of the practice. The services are customized to the specific needs of community-based practices and include drug management services, such as admixture training, inventory management, enhanced charge capture, regimen analysis, and admixture and clinical staff training and education.

“This type of support allows us to practice more efficiently and will help us continue to provide the excellent service and quality of care that the community has come to expect from us,” said Dr. Victor Vigil, lead oncologist at Hematology-Oncology Associates.

State-of-the-art drug distribution services and network drug contracting are vital parts of the services provided by OPS to benefit the Hematology-Oncology Associates practice. As a complement to these OPS services, the consultant pharmacist is a resource who focuses on providing ongoing economic value and process improvement support to Hematology-Oncology Associates.

The relationship brings together the expertise of seven oncologists, a clinical nurse specialist, and many support staff with the knowledge of an oncology pharmacist team that share a vision of optimizing practice performance in the community setting.

About Hematology Oncology Associates, P.C.

For over 30 years, the physicians and staff at Hematology Oncology Associates of New Mexico have been providing comprehensive care for adults with cancer and blood disorders. With state-of-the-art treatment technologies, cutting-edge clinical trials research, and access to a wide array of services, the practice is devoted to providing the best possible care to its patients.

Co-founder Dr. Paul Duncan, and his colleagues Dr. Victor Vigil, Dr. Lorraine Sanchez, Dr. Malcolm Purdy, Dr. James Lin, Dr. Lovie Bey and Debra Winkeljohn, CNS, are committed to providing the people of New Mexico with the highest standard of care available. In addition, two of the group’s physicians are focused on genetic screening and counseling for patients and family members with hereditary cancers. For more information, visit the company’s Web site, www.hoanm.com.

About Oncology Pharmaceutical Services

Oncology Pharmaceutical Services (OPS), a service of US Oncology, Inc., includes powerful network drug contracting, state-of-the art drug distribution, and the valuable support of oncology-trained consultant pharmacists. In addition, OPS offers a variety of innovative tools and resources specially designed for the complexity of cancer care, focusing on providing economic value, clinical insight, and process improvement.

About US Oncology

US Oncology, Inc., headquartered in the Woodlands, Texas, works closely with physicians, payers, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturers, to identify and deliver innovative services that enhance patient access to advanced cancer care. US Oncology supports one of the nation’s foremost cancer treatment and research networks, accelerating the availability and use of evidence-based medicine and shared best practices.

US Oncology uses its expertise to support every aspect of the cancer care delivery system–from drug development to distribution and outcomes measurement–enabling the company to help increase the efficiency and safety of cancer care. According to the company’s last quarterly earnings report, US Oncology is affiliated with 1,227 physicians operating in 468 locations, including 95 radiation oncology facilities in 39 states. For more information, visit the company’s Web site, www.usoncology.com.

Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CALP), a leading provider of tools and services for drug discovery and life sciences research, today launched the Staccato Protein Workstation to specifically address bottlenecks in the characterization of biological therapeutics and biogenerics.

With a goal of assuring the quality of therapeutic proteins and monoclonal antibodies, as well as creating mechanisms for approval of follow-on protein products (biosimilars), the FDA has encouraged the industry to submit biological new drug applications that include quality by design (QbD) parameters. QbD approaches require multivariate experimentation techniques that generate large numbers of samples and create bottlenecks in sample preparation and analysis.

“The Staccato Protein Workstation is designed to address the sample preparation and analysis bottlenecks caused by increased sample requirements of QbD approaches, and is also directly applicable to research groups performing protein expression optimization, clone selection, and other high throughput techniques,” said Kevin Keras, Business Unit Manager, ACES, Caliper Life Sciences. “Caliper has worked with several of our LabChip GXII customers, including Dow and Amgen, to develop custom automation solutions to integrate sample preparation and analysis steps. Recognizing the broader need for this workflow automation, Caliper has created the Staccato Protein Workstation as an off-the-shelf solution.”

The Staccato Protein Workstation, developed by Caliper’s Automation, Consulting, Engineering, and Services (ACES) group, incorporates the Sciclone ALH 3000 for automated liquid handling, Twister II for microplate handling, LabChip GXII for microfluidic protein characterization, and various accessories for complete workflow automation. The LabChip GXII is Caliper’s high throughput system for analyzing protein size, concentration, and purity and serves as a replacement for traditional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Since its launch in July, 2008, the LabChip GXII platform has been widely adopted by high throughput protein analysis laboratories including companies such as Eli Lilly, GSK Biologics, Merck and Novartis; government and academic institutions such as Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Karlshrue Institute of Technology, National Cancer Institute, Sandia National Laboratories, and University of Queensland; and biotechnology companies such as Amgen, ICx Biosystems, and XcellereX.

For additional information on Caliper’s research tools for sample preparation and quality control of biologicals, please visit http://www.caliperls.com/products/aces/staccato-protein-workstations.htm

About Caliper Life Sciences

Caliper Life Sciences is a premier provider of cutting-edge technologies enabling researchers in the life sciences industry to create life-saving and enhancing medicines and diagnostic tests more quickly and efficiently. Caliper is aggressively innovating new technology to bridge the gap between in vitro assays and in vivo results and then translating those results into cures for human disease. Caliper’s portfolio of offerings includes state-of-the-art microfluidics, lab automation & liquid handling, optical imaging technologies, and discovery & development outsourcing solutions. For more information please visit www.caliperLS.com.

Caliper, Sciclone, Staccato, Twister, and LabChip are registered trademarks, and ACES is a trademark, of Caliper Life Sciences, Inc.

BioMed Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: BMR) announced today the closing of a new $350 million loan with John Hancock Life Insurance Company, TIAA-CREF, and Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank AG. The five year loan is secured by a single property – the Center for Life Science | Boston, a newly constructed 700,000+ square foot state-of-the-art research facility that recently received Gold LEED(R) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

“One of the hallmarks of BioMed’s strategy has been proactive management of its capital structure, and the timely completion of the financing for the Center for Life Science | Boston is a prime example of our team’s ability to execute on this strategy,” said Kent Griffin, President and Chief Financial Officer of BioMed. “In combination with our recent secondary common stock offering, which raised gross proceeds of $174.3 million, we have positioned BioMed well for continued long-term success in the execution of our business plan of acquiring, developing, owning and operating world-class research facilities in the core life science markets. We want to thank our lenders for their recognition of the world-class nature of the facility, the strength of its tenancy and especially their commitment to successfully completing this loan in a still challenging global credit environment.”

The Center for Life Science | Boston, located in the heart of Boston’s Longwood Medical Area, is surrounded by exceptional life science research institutions, hospitals and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Merck Research Laboratories Boston. Additionally, the Center for Life Science| Boston possesses a premier tenant roster, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Children’s Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Immune Disease Institute and Kowa Company, Ltd.

The $350 million loan bears interest at 7.75% per annum and matures in June 2014. Proceeds from the loan were used to repay a portion of an existing $507.1 million secured construction loan on the property. BioMed paid down the remaining balance of the existing secured construction loan by drawing on the company’s unsecured line of credit. The new mortgage financing for the Center for Life Science | Boston successfully addresses the last of BioMed’s debt maturities in 2009.

About BioMed Realty Trust

BioMed Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on Providing Real Estate to the Life Science Industry(R). The company’s tenants primarily include biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, scientific research institutions, government agencies and other entities involved in the life science industry. BioMed Realty Trust owns or has interests in 69 properties, representing 112 buildings with approximately 10.5 million rentable square feet, including approximately 640,000 square feet of development in progress. The company also owns undeveloped land parcels adjacent to existing properties that it estimates can support up to 1.4 million rentable square feet. The company’s properties are located predominantly in the major U.S. life science markets of Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York/New Jersey, which have well-established reputations as centers for scientific research.

About LEED(R)

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED(R)) Green Building Rating System(TM) encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. LEED(R) is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED(R) gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance.

TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, and Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., members FINRA, distribute securities products.