Ceres, Inc.

{{Infobox company

| name = Ceres, Inc.

| logo =

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| former type =

| type = Public

| traded_as = {{NASDAQ was|CERE}}

| industry = Biotechnology

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| foundation = {{start date and age|1996}}

| founder =

| defunct =

| location_city = Thousand Oaks, California

| location_country = United States

| area_served =

| key_people = Richard Hamilton (president and CEO)

| products = Seeds of energy crops

| production =

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| parent = Land O'Lakes

| divisions =

| subsid = Ceres Sementes do Brasil

| homepage = {{URL|ceres.net}}

| footnotes =

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Ceres, Inc. was a biotechnology company based in Thousand Oaks, California, United States that operated from 1996 to 2016, when it was acquired by Land O'Lakes. The company was a spinoff from UCLA researchers. Its ultimate commercial products were seeds of genetically modified crops used for biofuel production.

{{cite news

| url = http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-22/ceres-rises-on-first-trading-day-for-biofuels-crop-company.html

| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130628202422/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-22/ceres-rises-on-first-trading-day-for-biofuels-crop-company.html

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = June 28, 2013

| title = Ceres Rises on First Trading Day for Biofuels Crop Company

| agency = Bloomberg

| first = Andrew | last = Herndon

| date = 2012-02-22

| access-date = 2013-04-26}}

{{cite news

| url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ceresinc-idUSTRE80O0XU20120125

| title = Ceres Inc sees IPO priced at $21-$23/share

| work = Reuters

| first = Aman

| last = Shah

| date = 2012-01-25

| access-date = 2013-04-26

| archive-date = 2012-01-26

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120126160643/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/25/us-ceresinc-idUSTRE80O0XU20120125

| url-status = live

}} In addition to its operations in the United States, Ceres had a subsidiary in Brazil called Ceres Sementes do Brasil.

{{cite news

| url = http://ethanolproducer.com/articles/6987/ceres-to-seed-sorghum-in-brazil/

| title = Ceres to seed sorghum in Brazil

| work = Ethanol Producer Magazine

| date = 2010-09-23

| access-date = 2013-04-26}}

History

The company was founded in 1996 by UCLA professor Bob Goldberg and corporate partners with an initial capital of $50 million and an off-campus laboratory site overlooking Malibu, CA.{{cite news

| url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-dec-31-fi-49232-story.html

| title = A Few Rush to Exploit New Biotech Crops

| newspaper = Los Angeles Times

| first = PAUL | last = JACOBS

| date = 1999-12-31

| access-date = 2020-06-09}}

In 2002, the company signed a $137 million licensing agreement with Monsanto for their technology.{{cite news

| url = https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2002/04/01/daily45.html

| date = 2002-04-03

| title = Monsanto to invest $137 million in Ceres collaboration, stake

| newspaper = St. Louis Business Journal

| access-date = 2023-03-03}}

Richard Flavell was Chief Scientific Officer from 1998 until the 2012 public offering.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/767884/000114420414070168/v392377_10k.htm|title=Ceres from 10-K for 2015}}

From its 2012 initial public offering that raised $65 million until its acquisition, it was listed on the NASDAQ exchange.{{cite news

| url = https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120412006491/en/Ceres-Announces-Fiscal-Quarter-2012-Financial-Results

| date = 2012-04-12

| title = Ceres Announces Fiscal Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results

| access-date = 2020-06-09}}

{{cite news

| url = https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-jan-25-la-california-biofuel-firm-ceres-plans-public-offering-20120125-story.html

| title = California biofuel firm Ceres plans public offering

| newspaper = Los Angeles Times

| first = Marla | last = Dickerson

| date = 2012-01-25

| access-date = 2013-04-26}}

In 2012, the largest shareholders were Artal Luxembourg, Warburg Pincus, Ambergate Trust, and Oxford Bioscience, while biotechnology company Monsanto had 4.8% stake. The company's president and CEO was Richard Hamilton.

{{cite news

| url = http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/15918

| title = Ceres Unveils Switchgrass Seed Brand for Cellulosic Feedstock

| work = Sustainable Business

| date = 2008-01-05

| access-date = 2013-04-26}}

A second public offering in 2014 raised an additional $20 million at $1 per share compared to the 2012 IPO at $13.

On June 21, 2016, Ceres was acquired by Land O'Lakes for $17.2 million.{{Cite web|url=http://hayandforage.com/article-780-land-o'lakes-acquires-ag-biotech-developer-ceres-inc.html|title=Land O'Lakes Acquires Ag Biotech Developer Ceres Inc.|website=hayandforage.com|language=en-US|access-date=2016-06-22}}

Products and research

A major early (2000) accomplishment was the full-length cDNA-sequencing of Arabidopsis thaliana in collaboration with Genset {{cite news

| url=https://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/abstract/S1360-1385(00)01660-5

| title = Ceres and Genset milestone

| work = Trends in Plant Science

| first = G.E | last = de Vries

| date = 2000-06-01

| access-date = 2024-06-22}}

with subsequent publication of the sequencies in TIGR and NCBI and submission to US PTO, and the characterization of Arabidopsis AFLP fragments in collaboration with Keygene NV. {{cite news

| url=https://www.bioprocessonline.com/doc/tour-de-force-near-complete-expression-analys-0001

| title = Tour de force—near complete expression analysis of Arabidopsis genes

| work = Bioprocess Online

| first = Laura | last = DeFrancesco

| date = 2000-07-18

| access-date = 2023-03-03}}

In 2006, Ceres began a collaboration with the Noble Research Institute to develop switchgrass.{{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Qingzhen |last2=Webb |first2=Stephen L. |last3=Bhandari |first3=Hem S. |last4=Bouton |first4=Joe H. |last5=Saha |first5=Malay C. |title=Ecotypic and genotypic effects on regrowth and heading date in switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum ) |journal=Plant Direct |date=January 2019 |volume=3 |issue=1 |doi=10.1002/pld3.111|pmc=6508767 }} Starting in 2009, Ceres sold sweet sorghum, switchgrass and high biomass sorghum seeds.Ann Hinch for Farmworld Online May 7 2008 [http://www.farmworldonline.com/News/NewsArticle.asp?newsid=6045 Genome firm will sell biomass seeds for ’09 growing season] It tested biofuel production from switchgrass and miscanthus. In 2010, Ceres started to cooperate with Novozymes to improve the enzyme cocktails for biorefinery switchgrass and sweet sorghum.

{{cite news

| url = http://domesticfuel.com/2010/05/20/novozymes-and-ceres-partner-on-biofuel-crops/

| title = Novozymes and Ceres Partner on Biofuel Crops

| work = Domestic Fuel

| first = Cindy | last = Zimmerman

| date = 2010-05-20

| access-date = 2013-04-26}}

USAID funded Ceres' research on biotech traits and trait stacks in rice for Asia.

{{cite news

| url = http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/11/ceres-20121109.html

| title = Energy crop company Ceres receives additional $3.5M from USAID for trait stacks for rice

| work = Green Car Congress