Ag Innovation Showcase September 11, 2013 Matthew B. Crisp
Benson Hill Biosystems – Introduction Agricultural biotechnology company • Focus: biotech traits to increase intrinsic crop yield • Approach: improve photosynthetic efficiency • Core Technology: • – Collection of proprietary and public domain targets – “Informed” discovery pipeline Priority crops: corn, soybean, wheat, rice, sugarcane • CapEx lite •
70-100% increase in productivity is required by 2050 A productivity gap of A productivity gap of 9.2% emerges by 2050 9.2% emerges by 2050 without expansion of without expansion of land under agricultural land under agricultural production. production. For instance, in For instance, in soybeans, required soybeans, required yield increases are yield increases are significantly higher significantly higher than historical yield than historical yield increases. increases.
The Greatest Opportunity in Agriculture: Biotech Traits Biotech Traits 11% Projected CAGR to 2025 11% Projected CAGR to 2025 Market in 2009 $9.5 billion Biotech Traits Market in 2025 $50 billion Edgerton, 2009, Plant Physiology
The next frontier of agbiotech trait development The agbiotech industry has been built on Intrinsic Yield successfully Protecting Intrinsic Yield , also known as yield potential , is the yield of a but biotech has not been adequately plant when grown in an leveraged to boost crops’ Intrinsic Yield, environment to which it is Increasing Yield Potential adapted, with adequate water, nutrients, and with stresses controlled. Ongoing R&D focus of industry Yield impact from trait that increases intrinsic yield 70% Existing 70% plant yield
Focused on developing traits to improve photosynthesis “fine tuning” to provide Target rate-limiting steps genetic variability that of primary metabolism otherwise would not occur precisely multi-genic controlled gene stacks expression >50% upside in yield by enhancing photosynthesis
Closing the gap between the genotype and the phenotype Value enabling/enhancing to effectively integrate: Computational Biology – Computational biology : Systems Biology mathematical modeling and simulation – Bioinformatics : analyzing large Bioinformatics and complex datasets – Systems biology : holistic rather than reductionist approach; ‘omics integration – Synthetic biology : next-gen genetic engineering, novel expression profiles and Synthetic Biology combinatorial systems Benson Hill is integrating these technologies and focusing them on Photosynthesis.
Environmental conditions and photosynthesis are linked Example project: used for cross-referencing with photosynthesis network • analyses: 4,128 genes – cold, salt, drought, and heat-responsive Stress-associated regulons identify • co-expressed TFs implicated in abiotic stress responses and primary metabolism Brown - Drought Black - Salt Red – Heat Blue – Cold Purple and Green – multiple interactions
BHB analytics distill photosynthesis targets from crop gene networks Photosynthetic Subnetwork Samples from Wheat Automated Proprietary Analytics Pipeline 336 genes and 93 TFs Gene Network
High priority candidate example (BH15) • First discovered in cyanobacteria • Significantly improved photosynthetic efficiency, WUE, and yield in model plants • Consistent improvement in soybeans – Greenhouse yield increase of >15% – Field yield increases of >9% • Optimizing by: – Co-expressing with genes encoding rate-limiting steps of photosynthesis – Employing spatial and temporal-specific expression profile • Advancing into maize
Path to Commercialization – “Go to Partner” • Consolidated market • High barriers to entry – Germplasm, i.e. plant genetics – Late-stage development “GO TO PARTNER” BUSINESS MODEL – Regulatory expertise – Capital requirements • Seed are used as value capture mechanism – Premium pricing for seed containing biotech trait(s) – Retention of minimum 1/3 incremental farm gate value provided by commercialized trait(s) • Benson Hill is partnering on a crop-by-crop basis – Non-exclusive deal structures in corn and soybean – Potential for exclusive deal structures in other crops
Facilities and Infrastructure Tissue Culture and Transformation Facility (1,985ft 2 ) • Potting area with soils handling room (1,850ft 2 ) Donald Danforth Plant • 33 Conviron chambers and 20 Conviron rooms (2,784ft 2 ) • Science Center 27 Greenhouses (29,100ft 2 ) • Bioinformatics Core: 800+ processors, 3 TB memory, and a single, • high-performance 204 TB storage area network Other Cores: Proteomics, Mass Spectrometry, Integrated • Microscopy, X-Ray Crystallography High-throughput robotics assay platforms • High-throughput plant phenotyping system • Benson Hill offices and lab: • – computational and systems biology dry lab – molecular biology; biochemical assay development
Team Matthew Crisp, President & CEO • Former President of Agricultural Biotechnology Division at Intrexon Corporation, a synthetic biology company • Former Managing Director at Third Security, LLC, a biotech-focused venture capital firm with >$2 billion under management • Extensive experience working with early-stage biotech companies in oversight and operational capacities through start-up, growth and commercialization phases Thomas Brutnell, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer • Currently a Member and Director of the Enterprise Institute for Renewable Fuels at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center • Former faculty member at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University • Respected leader in photosynthesis research and expert in C4 photosynthetic differentiation, transcriptomics, plant biology, genomics, and C4 model grass systems Todd Mockler, PhD, Chief Technology Officer • Currently a Member at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center • Former faculty member at Oregon State University and a member of the Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing and the Computational and Genome Biology Initiative • Recognized expert in functional genomics, bioinformatics, plant systems biology, gene regulation, predictive modeling, and C3 model systems
Summary • Agriculture production must increase 70-100% by 2050 • New innovations are imperative to meet this requirement • Benson Hill is developing biotech traits to significantly increase intrinsic crop yields • Traits that increase photosynthetic efficiency are applicable across most major crops • Many shots on goal - broad set of candidates reduces risk • A proven business model in the ag industry • Opportunities for early-stage partnerships • CapEx lite model with access to significant infrastructure • Strong leadership and advisory team
Use of Funds / Value Drivers • Demonstrate high priority leads in crop plants • Validate new candidates in discovery pipeline • Further establish phenotyping platforms • Collaborate to obtain additional validation • Obtain additional non-dilutive investment • Continue to focus on the IP estate $7 Million Series A
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