Dow Chemical and Sigma-Aldrich Sign Supply Pact - Analyst Blog

The Dow Chemical Company's DOW subsidiary – Dow AgroSciences – and Sigma-Aldrich Corporation SIAL have signed a manufacturing license and supply agreement, under which, Sigma-Aldrich will make zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) reagents for use with EXZACT Precision Technology. The financial terms of the agreement were undisclosed.

Per the agreement, Sigma-Aldrich will act as exclusive manufacturer and supplier of ZFN reagents for the platform. The EXZACT Precision Technology is a multi-technology platform that helps in targeted genome modification in plants. The technology is developed by Dow AgroSciences for application in plants. Dow AgroSciences' platform employs Sangamo Biosciences' SGMO ZFN technology, which the former has licensed for use in plants.

In their decision to integrate ZFNs into their seeds and traits pipeline, Dow chose Sigma-Aldrich, based on the latter's expertise in manufacturing ZFN reagents as part of the CompoZr platform and its excellent reputation for servicing clients in the Life Sciences market.

Dow AgroSciences is committed to discovering, developing, and bringing to market crop protection and plant biotechnology solutions for the growing world. Recently, Dow AgroSciences has launched a food security initiative in Africa in collaboration with AMPATH, an Indiana University-led consortium.

Through the initiative, Dow AgroSciences and AMPATH will educate the people in Africa to fight hunger by offering local farmers with agricultural knowledge that will help them to improve their crop yield and hence their quality of life.

Dow is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock.
 
A better-ranked stock in the chemical space is Compass Minerals International Inc. CMP, carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
 

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
COMPASS MINERLS CMP: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
DOW CHEMICAL DOW: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
SANGAMO BIOSCI SGMO: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
SIGMA ALDRICH SIAL: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research