Syngenta and DuPont will provide DuPont business, Pioneer Hi-Bred , access to Syngenta’s novel insect control corn event, MIR162.  Under the royalty-bearing agreement, Syngenta will grant Pioneer a non-exclusive, global license with stacking rights to MIR162.

“With access to this trait, we have a great new tool to build on our insect control product offerings,” said Paul Schickler, DuPont vice president and general manager and president of Pioneer. “The addition of MIR162 to our already strong insect control trait portfolio will provide growers with a superior product choice in controlling the broadest range of insect pests.”

MIR162 is currently in the regulatory review process in the United States and the major corn export markets.  It is expected to receive U.S. regulatory approval by the end of the year.

MIR162 will protect corn above the ground by delivering high-level control of a broad spectrum of lepidopteran insects including fall army worm, corn ear worm, western bean and black cut worm and sugar cane borer, which are key pests in the United States, Brazil and Argentina.  The gene contained in MIR162 has a distinct mode of action that is structurally and functionally different from the genes contained in insect control technologies currently in the marketplace.