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Biotech / Medical : Monsanto Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dan Spillane who wrote (1677)	3/17/1999 11:16:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2539

Japan Tobacco Surges on News It Will Genetically Engineer Rice [unlike the British, Japan thinks developing ge crops is good news] Bloomberg News March 17, 1999, 8:31 p.m. ET Japan Tobacco Surges on News It Will Genetically Engineer Rice Tokyo, March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Japan Tobacco Inc. shares rose as much as 16.3 percent on a report the nation's only tobacco company will seek to develop a genetically engineered high-yield rice crop, analysts said. The maker of Mild Seven and Peace cigarettes rose as much as 180,000 yen to 1.29 million ($10,792), where it recently traded. A total of 5,429 shares changed hands, about four times the full- day average of 1,380 over the past three months. Japan Tobacco will form a joint venture with Zeneca Group Plc of the U.K. to develop genetically engineered agricultural products, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said, without citing sources. The joint venture, capitalized at about 10 billion yen ($84.75 million), will develop a high-yield rice crop and other farm products, the report said. JT and Zeneca are seeking to compete with Monsanto Co. in the marketing of agricultural products in Asia, Nikkei said. Genetic engineering of rice has a promising future, said Tsutomu Matsuno, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research. He said, however, that it takes years of research before it can actually contribute to a company's earnings. Japan Tobacco spokesman Tomoaki Akatsuka refused to comment on the report. --Tak Kumakura in the Tokyo newsroom (813) 3201-8963/ with