DOW AGROSCIENCES, FIRST REGISTRATION FOR PLANT-MADE VACCINES.

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INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, (NYSE: DOW), announced today that it has received the world's first regulatory approval for a plant-made vaccine from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Center for Veterinary Biologics. This approval represents an innovative milestone for the company and the industry.

"With this achievement Dow AgroSciences is revolutionizing the field of preventative medicine with plant-cell-produced vaccines," said Butch Mercer, Dow AgroSciences' global business leader for Animal Health.

The Dow AgroSciences Concert(TM) Plant-Cell-Produced System represents a new category of plant-made vaccines. This leading edge technology utilizes plant cells instead of whole plants in a secure, bio-contained environment to produce vaccines. Because of this bio-contained production system, concerns and challenges associated with making vaccines in whole plants or food crops are eliminated.

"Being the first company to ever register a plant-made vaccine is another example of Dow AgroSciences' cutting edge approach to bringing highly novel and differentiated solutions to the market," said Jerome Peribere, Dow AgroSciences' president and CEO.

The Concert(TM) Plant-Cell-Produced System uses only the necessary parts of the disease causing agent to stimulate immunity in a manufacturing process that is totally free of animal components. According to John Cuffe, Dow AgroSciences' R&D leader for Animal Health, "This approval is a perfect example of how biotechnology is advancing science by creating a new category of vaccines that is both safe and effective."