Agribio Group acquires stake in Genetwister Technologies

Global News & information


More news

Agribio Group acquires stake in Genetwister Technologies
 

New director of R&D Roger Peeters engages with marker assisted breeding

De Lier, 16 June 2011 - The Dutch flower and plant breeder Agribio Group has acquired a stake in Wageningen based Genetwister Technologies, an innovative bio-technology company.In addition, the company appointed Roger Peeters as Managing Director of Research & Development as of 1 June 2011.

Agribio Group has taken these steps as a result of an ambition to expand its global position via research into new varieties and the modernisation of its technology.This will take place by means of marker assisted breeding and a clear focus on the company’s core activities ofbreeding flowers and plants.
Peeters will substantiate these innovation ambitions.He has a wealth of experience and knowledge in modern breeding techniques including marker assisted breeding, thanks to a long career with companies such as Bayer subsidiary Nunhems Zaden and Syngenta Seeds.
Harry Kloppenburg, Chief Executive of Agribio Group:“We are delighted with the appointment of Roger Peeters.We want to take the lead within our sector and this means having specialised, in-house expertise.Roger’s technological knowledge will form an ideal part of this.”
The company became independent in March 2010. In the last year Agribio Group set major steps to improve efficiency, now it focuses fully on breeding flowers and plants. Agribio Group is ready for further growth, proved by the take-over of American company Oro Farms earlier this year.
Stake in technology company Genetwister Technologies
Agribio Group expects growth and development to be partially realised as a result of specifically focussing on the opportunities of marker assisted breeding.The stake that it has taken in the Wageningen based Genetwister Technologies fits into this philosophy perfectly.The company uses the most modern genomics techniques to identify and isolate bio-markers (genes) from plants and plant products.
The emphasis on modernising its breeding activities over the coming years must lead to more efficient production methods for growers, plants and flowers and even more variation in form, scent and colour for the consumer.“We will lead the industry in relation to breeding flowers and plants and aim to be a worldwide top-3 company for the crops we breed,” explains Roger Peeters.
Agribio Group has high expectations of the new technology.The company’s breeding experts can, with assistance from the specialists at Genetwister Technologies, employ new techniques in the coming years in their flower and plant breeding programs.This must lead to tangible results in the mid to long term.
Marker technology has been used for twenty years in relation to agriculture and vegetable crops but has not yet been employed within flower and plant breeding.“The use of marker assisted breeding or the other modern techniques used by Agribio Group have nothing whatsoever to do with genetic modification.These techniques are based on an insight into existing DNA structures and should lead to the more rapid development of new, distinctive varieties which will enable our growers to provide an even better service.The success rate for our varieties will also improve”, continues Peeters.

Agribio Group, a worldwide player
Agribio Group is active in 56 countries and trades over one billion strike cuttings per year.The company is a global top-3 player in terms of vegetative breeding and the propagation of plants and flowers.The Agribio Group includes top breeding companies such as Fides, Japan Agribio and Barberet & Blanc.The company has 2,400 employees and annual sales of around 85 million euro.

About Genetwister Technologies

Genetwister Technologies is an innovative Dutch bio-technology company with an international position in the commercial application of bio-technology in agriculture, horticulture and ornamental crops.Genetwister Technologies is an expert when it comes to the identification and isolation of molecular markers for use in breeding, metabolite and diagnostic applications via high-throughput sequencing, expression profiling and functional genomics. The bioinformatics group of Genetwister Technologies develops its own software for database management, data analysis and data gathering.