(Washington, D.C. and Research Triangle Park, N.C.) The 5th annual North Carolina Leadership Award in Industrial Biotechnology was presented to BASF Plant Science LP during the World Congress for Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing. The Leadership Award, conferred Monday evening during a special dinner hosted by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, honors outstanding corporate achievement in areas such as

·         Technical endeavors

·         Business leadership

·         The translation of new technologies into commercial markets

·         Support for education

·         Community service

The Biotechnology Center’s nominating committee examined information on 13 industrial biotechnology and bioprocessing companies to initiate the selection. BASF was then chosen by a multi-organizational selection committee, which included representatives of the Biotechnology Center and the state’s Biofuels Center, Community College BioNetwork and departments of Commerce and of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

“We’re fortunate in North Carolina to have world-class corporations like BASF Plant Science so actively involved in our outstanding ag biotech community,” said Gwyn Riddick, M.B.A., the Biotechnology Center’s vice president of agricultural biotechnology.

“It’s an organization operating not only at the forefront of agricultural productivity and animal feed research and development, but also as a leader in business citizenship. It’s an honor to recognize this kind of excellence.”

“We are very pleased to be chosen for this award,” said Jonathan Bryant, vice president of BASF Plant Science LP.  “In addition to our passion for bringing innovation to agriculture through plant biotechnology, we believe active participation in our local biotech community very important for business success.”

Riddick said BASF Plant Science was picked for the 2010 award for its record:

1.    Enhancements of agriculture technology including:

·         Advancements in identifying plant-resistance genes and resulting field trials showing promise for the genetically enhanced potato

·         The firm’s stress-tolerance pipeline which will have a drought-tolerant corn available as early as 2012.  This may benefit North Carolina farmers.

·         Development of Amflora, a starchy potato to be used for industrial purposes such as paper and yarn manufacturing

2.    Its participation as one of five volunteers with United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to pilot/test its biotechnology quality management system that will enhance compliance by biotech developers with regulatory requirements for field trials and movement of certain GE crops.  North Carolina is developing a similar system.

3.    Strategic partnerships with Monsanto for discovery in the areas of yield increase and stress tolerance, and other international and national partnerships

4.    Support for the state’s life-sciences community, including:

·         Support of the NC Agbiotech Strategic Initiative

·         Financial sponsorship of Intellectual Exchange Groups

·         Openness to the community in providing educational tours of facilities

Previous winners of the award are Novozymes, DuPont, Syngenta and Bayer Crop Science.

The Biotechnology Center is a private, non-profit corporation supported by the N.C. General Assembly. Its mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina by supporting biotechnology research, business, education and strategic policy statewide.