Bayer Crop Science president of Brazil, Gerhard Bohne, said on Thursday that the company had delayed the launch of the Bollgard III RR Flex technology for cotton seeds, scheduled for the 2019/20 season, after producers questioned the court. prior art patent, Bollgard II.
"If the producer himself, via his associations, is suing Bayer for patenting, we are coming to the conclusion that the farmer doesn't want innovation or doesn't want to pay for innovation, and Bayer's reaction is not to invest in innovation," he said. Bohne "We are waiting for what will come out of these processes," added executive. He did not reveal, however, a new forecast for the commercial launch.
According to the association, the seed is the combination of the second generation of caterpillar-protected Bollgard cotton with the second generation of glyphosate tolerant Roundup Ready cotton. Bohne pointed out that the company invests 2.4 billion euros in research and development worldwide – the value per country was not reported.
"Every company that invests in something needs a return, for that there is an intellectual patent. It takes you a long time to bring a technology to the market, both biotechnology and defensive, on average 10 years, with investment of 200 million to 300 million euros", According to the executive, producers' legal challenges to Intacta RR2 Pro technology do not affect plans for the Intacta 2 Xtend, whose commercial release is scheduled for the 2021/22 crop.
"We will continue with all of our prerelease activities, which are the 2019/20 and 2020/21 harvests. We are not reducing our efforts in the Intacta 2 Xtend prerelease," he said. "No change of plans yet."