MONHEIM, Germany and
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.,
Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayer
CropScience and SentiSearch, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SSRC) have
entered into a two-year research agreement to cooperate in the
identification of new molecules targeting odorant receptors in
insects. The aim of this collaboration, which also involves
arrangements with Columbia University
and Rockefeller University, is to
develop innovative solutions to improve control of malaria and
dengue fever in countries where these diseases are endemic.
SentiSearch will receive an upfront license fee, followed by
milestone payments and royalties on sales. Further financial terms
were not disclosed.
Bayer CropScience will contribute to this project its extensive
library of compounds, screening capabilities and its experience in
chemical synthesis and the development of insecticides. In turn,
SentiSearch and the Universities will together provide proprietary
assay technologies and knowledge in the field of chemoreception in
insects. This will enable Bayer CropScience to use these assays to
identify compounds which could modify the activity of insect odor
receptors. In addition to possible benefits in the field of public
health, these activities could also result in innovative products
with a new mode of action capable of preventing damage to
agricultural crops caused by insects. Bayer CropScience will
determine whether compounds successfully identified will be
developed for agricultural applications.
This project will build on the groundbreaking research carried
out by Drs. Richard Axel and Leslie
Vosshall, who discovered chemosensory receptors that are
responsible for odor perception. Various insect behaviors are
guided by the sense of smell, including the ability to locate food,
humans, animals, and mating partners. Mosquitoes, which transmit
dangerous tropical diseases to humans, use the CO2 content of
exhaled air and other host odors to locate their hosts. The aim is
for the new molecules to block the relevant receptors, which would
prevent the insect from perceiving human odors. Receptors have also
been discovered that are responsible for male courtship behavior
and for guiding the deposition of eggs by female insects on their
host plants. Professor Axel was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine for his groundbreaking studies on olfactory
perception.
"Bayer CropScience is the market leader in vector control in the
public health and agricultural settings, including animal health,"
said Dr. Alexander Klausener, Head
of Research at Bayer CropScience. "Our activities include playing a
significant role in the prevention of malaria. This new cooperation
with leading U.S. scientists Nobel Laureate Professor Richard Axel from Columbia
University and Professor Leslie
Vosshall from Rockefeller
University will give us access to a new and innovative
approach to insect control. This, in turn, will present us with an
opportunity to expand our leading position in this field."
"Through this agreement, we have brought together united leading
researchers around a mission: to control the spread of malaria and
other insect-borne diseases around the world. It is our further
belief that this initiative may yield additional significant
opportunities in health and agriculture," commented Joseph K. Pagano, Chief Executive Officer at
SentiSearch. "We are pleased to be working with Bayer CropScience
and the superb scientists who have been involved at Columbia and
Rockefeller Universities," added Mr. Pagano.
This collaboration is part of a research project performed in
Professor Axel´s laboratory at Columbia
University and in Professor Vosshall's laboratory at
Rockefeller University. The
project funded by a Grant from the Foundation for the National
Institutes of Health through the Grand Challenges in Global Health
initiative. One of the goals of that initiative is to improve the
control of insects that affect human health, with the ultimate
eradication of malaria, dengue fever, and other insect-borne
diseases in the developing world.
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 6.5 billion (2009), is one of the
world's leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of
crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and traits.
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 18,700 and is represented in more than 120 countries.
This and further news is available at:
www.press.bayercropscience.com.
About SentiSearch
SentiSearch, Inc. holds certain olfaction intellectual property
assets primarily consisting of an exclusive world wide license
issued by the Trustees of Columbia
University in the City of New
York, as well as certain patent applications. SentiSearch
has been working with Professor Axel and his team in the area of
olfaction and has also been in contact at various times in this
period with leading scientists at Rockefeller
University. These efforts resulted in the collaborative
agreement with Bayer CropScience AG in September 2010.
Find more information at www.bayercropscience.com.
Kgs (2010-0489E)
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management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
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including those set forth under "Management's Discussion and
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information available to us as of the date thereof, and we assume
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SOURCE SentiSearch, Inc.
