Akkadix Corporation Appoints Chris Lamb Co-Chair of Scientific Advisory Board
SAN DIEGO, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Akkadix Corporation, an international agricultural discovery company, today announced the appointment of Chris Lamb, Ph.D. as the Co-Chair of the Company's Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Lamb will share his duties as co-chairperson alongside Dr. Roger Beachy, Director of the Danforth Plant Science Center, to provide insight and direction to Akkadix research programs.
Dr. Chris Lamb is the Director of the John Innes Centre and John Innes Professor of Biology at the University of East Anglia. His previous positions include Regius Professor of Plant Science, Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh and Professor and Director of the Plant Biology Laboratory at The Salk Institute, La Jolla, California.
With the addition of Dr. Lamb, Akkadix Scientific Advisory Board members are:
-- Roger Beachy, Ph.D., Co-Chair, Director of the Donald Danforth Plant
Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, and Professor in the Department of
Biology at Washington University in St. Louis.
-- Chris Lamb, Ph. D., Co-Chair, Director of the John Innes Center,
Norwich Scotland, and John Innes Professor of Biology at the University
of East Anglia
-- Carlos Barbs, III, Ph.D., an Associate Member of The Scripps Research
Institute, Department of Molecular Biology and Associate Professor,
Janet & W. Keith Kellogg II Chair in Molecular Biology at The Skaggs
Institute for Chemical Biology.
-- Rick Dixon, Ph.D., Director of the Plant Biology Division of the Samuel
Roberts Nobel Foundation, Ardmore, Oklahoma.
-- Richard Michelmore, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics in the Department of
Vegetable Crops at the University of California at Davis.
-- Ethan Signer, Ph.D., Professor of Biology Emeritus at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Executive Director
of Cure HD Initiative, and a member of Scientific Advisory Board of the
Hereditary Disease Foundation.
In connection with Chris Lamb's appointment, Gary Richardson, President of Akkadix, noted, "Dr. Lamb is one of the premier scientists in agricultural biotechnology today, and we are pleased to have him join us in this capacity. With the participation of Drs. Lamb, Beachy and four other world-renowned scientists, we believe that Acadia's Scientific Advisory Board is second to none in the industry."
"Dr. Lamb's expertise in understanding the mechanisms behind plant disease resistance and other plant functions is invaluable to the future growth of our company," said Leo Kim, Chief Technical Officer of Akkadix. "His direction and vision are welcomed additions to our advisory group."
Dr. Lamb received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University, England, and served on the faculty of Oxford University. He was the Browne Research Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford, a McKnight Foundation Research Scholar, and received an award from the American Chemical Society. Dr. Lamb is editor of The Plant Journal and serves on the editorial boards of several other plant biology journals. He was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1990.
Akkadix Corporation was formed by the merger of Xeric Corporation with Global Agro, Inc. in September of 1999. The merger of the two companies integrated the genomics, structural biology, combinatorial chemistry, and high throughput screening of Xyris with the proprietary plant genes and germplasm of Global Agro. Xyris and Global Agro contributed to Akkadix their research and licensing agreements with Axys Pharmaceuticals, The Salk Institute and the University of Edinburgh, in addition to collaborations with AgriBioTech, Inc. and Forage Genetics, Inc., a subsidiary of Land O' Lakes Inc. of Wisconsin. This combination provides Akkadix with a technology platform and capabilities that are unique to the industry. Akkadix is currently working on the application of the five proprietary gene technologies licensed from The Salk Institute and plans to develop applications in soybean, corn, wheat, rice, cotton and other crops.
Recently, Akkadix announced the acquisition of the assets of Maize Genetic Resources, Inc., a corn foundation seed company through its wholly-owned subsidiary Akkadix Genetics, Inc. The acquired assets (included breeding materials, inbred lines and MGR's proprietary technology for inbred development), together with Akkadix's own germplasm, will provide elite and unencumbered genetics to the seed industry. The ownership and access to germplasm, coupled with the availability of in-hand gene technologies, will enable Akkadix to generate products and revenues in a shorter time frame than one would expect form a newly founded agricultural biotechnology company.
Equity funding for Akkadix Corporation has come from venture capital investments by Bay City Capital Fund I, L.P., North American Nutrition and Agribusiness Fund, L.P. (which is also managed by Bay City Capital, LLC.) and the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Counsel, and corporate investments by AgriBioTech, Inc and Forage Genetics, Inc.
Akkadix Corporation is a global agricultural biotechnology company that uses gene discovery, functional genomics, bioinformatics, structural biology, combinatorial chemistry and other technologies for the discovery of novel plant traits which improve health and safety, increase production, lower costs, help preserve the environment and create new opportunities for crop production.
SOURCE Akkadix Corporation
CO: Akkadix Corporation
ST: California
IN: AGR BIO
SU: PER
12/03/1999 12:20 EST prnewswire.com |
