Bayer acquires Targenomix

The German molecular plant physiology biotechnology company is now part of Bayer. A purchase price was not disclosed.

German biotechnology company Targenomix is now a wholly owned subsidiary of chemical company Bayer. As an independent entity, however, the company is expected to retain its start-up character. Targenomix is a spin-off of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and employs about 30 researchers. Their task and goal is to develop a new generation of plant protection molecules. This is necessary because decades of using crop protection products have led to the development of resistances that are now to be eliminated.

The two companies did not disclose a purchase price. Bayer and the Potsdam-based startup, founded in 2014, have been cooperating for some time. The collaboration has produced, among other things, a new herbicide shown to be effective against key resistant grasses, according to the companies. It is expected to hit the market toward the end of the decade.

Targenomix researchers are using AI to analyze plant metabolism, for example. "Targenomix's innovative tools for identifying and selecting safe and sustainable active ingredients complement our design-based strategy in crop protection research," says Robert Reiter, Head of Research and Development at Bayer's Crop Science Division. "We will use them to accelerate the development of new products."