AgTech

The demand for agricultural technology – or AgTech – is driven by the world’s growing population: we must double our food output by 2050 in order to feed the planet. The global AgTech industry is continually developing new technology-based solutions and tools to improve the health and function of plants, animals, and microorganisms, so that growers can meet this demand. These solutions include genetically modified crops, advanced breeding techniques, microbial seed and foliar treatments and other biologics, precision agriculture, production animal therapeutics and diagnostics, biofuels and enzymatic applications. 

We recognize that the challenges confronting AgTech businesses are numerous, but we are confident that our clients will continue to find opportunities to grow and thrive. That is why we have built a team of AgTech lawyers who understand the industry. Our team has extensive experience advising companies in all phases of technology development and commercialization, including in areas such as genome editing, gene discovery, trait development and licensing, crop protection, cloud biology, plant-made pharmaceuticals, microbials, systems biology, animal health, biofuels and precision agriculture. In addition, we advise AgTech companies on protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights, including trademark prosecution, maintenance and counselling, advertising counselling and strategic litigation risk management.

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Members of our team include lawyers with backgrounds in biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. This experience enables a deep understanding of our clients’ business goals, which in turn leads to practical advice and meaningful results.  

The breadth of our experience on mission-critical AgTech transactions is international in scope. We have advised or worked across the table from five of the “Big Six” agricultural technology companies. We have counseled our clients in over 100 AgTech collaborations, including over 50 international deals involving more than 40 different partners outside the United States. Total deal value for our AgTech transaction experience exceeds $2 billion. 

Our lawyers are also active participants in the AgTech ecosystem. In particular, our team has been integrally involved in establishing North Carolina’s thriving Research Triangle Park region as an internationally recognized center of AgTech innovation.

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Leading the Industry

Our practice is one of seven in the world to be recognized in the Agribusiness chapter of Chambers Global. According to clients, "When it comes to licensing and deals, they’re the people I want at the table with me. They do a great job understanding the smallest detail while still keeping the big picture in mind. They think strategically about how each step in the negotiation positions me for my long-term goal. I am very pleased with the work they did on our international deals."

Highlights of our experience include:

• Over $875 million in venture capital, financing, acquisition and public offering transactions for AgTech companies ranging from animal health to crop/trait development and genome editing.
• Over 100 AgTech research, development, license and collaboration agreements, totaling in excess of $550 million in cumulative value plus royalties, including over 30 transactions involving five of the six largest agriculture companies in the world.
• Represented a venture capital-funded biotechnology company that uses the plant-associated microbiome to create innovative agricultural products in an R&D collaboration with a leading global agricultural biotechnology company for discovery, development and commercialization of crop trait products.
• Represented a private ag biotech company in a $400 million sale to public ag company in a cash and milestone-based transaction.
• Advised a biotechnology company focused on discovery of complex traits for improving intrinsic yield in plants in multiple research collaborations and commercial partnerships with agricultural biotechnology companies in the U.S., France and Brazil.
• Represented a leading genome editing company in over a dozen research, collaboration, licensing and development agreements ranging from human therapeutics to row plant crop applications and specialty plant crop applications.
• Represented a venture capital funded agricultural biotechnology company in its acquisition by a public company buyer.
• Represents institutional investors in portfolio company financings, including seed financings of technology, life sciences and ag biotech companies.
• Advised in a worldwide exclusive license and research collaboration between our client, a biotechnology company and a leading global animal health company, to develop and commercialize animal vaccines.
• Advised in worldwide non-exclusive licenses by our client, an agricultural biotechnology company, to leading global agricultural companies for development of agronomic traits.
• Advised in a worldwide exclusive license of genome engineering technology by our client, a charitable organization that supports development of agricultural disease resistance technologies, to a global biotechnology tools company.