Marrone Organic Innovations
Before starting MOI (Marrone Organic Innovations) in April 2006, Marrone (PhD) founded AgraQuest in 1995 and served as its CEO until May 2004, Chairman until June 2005 and President until April 2006. At AgraQuest, she raised more than $50 million in venture capital for the company, launched five natural pest management products that are growing rapidly and developed a deep pipeline of other product candidates. AgraQuest received the Presidential Green Chemistry Award for small business in 2003 and Red Herring magazine’s Top 100 private Company Award and the World Technology Award in 2004. Before AgraQuest, she was founding president and business unit head for Entotech, Inc. (1990-1995) in Davis (CA), a successful biopesticide subsidiary of Denmark-based Novo Nordisk (sold to Abbott in 1995). At Monsanto (1983-1990), she led the Insect Biology group, which was involved in pioneering projects in transgenic crops, natural products, and microbial pesticides. She has been featured in the press and on radio many times – the Wall Street Journal (front page, Nov 2005), National Public Radio, LA Times, Fortune, USA Today, Entrepreneur, Chemical & Engineering News, Farm Chemicals and others. She is an alumna of CORO Foundation's intensive "Women in Leadership" program.
Besides AgraQuest, she is on the Board of the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists, the National Foundation for IPM Education, and Earth Renew, Inc., an organic fertilizer and energy company. Since 1999, she has served on the Board of Sutter Health's Sacramento-Sierra Region, one of Sacramento's largest private employers and is on the Sutter Davis Hospital Foundation Board (since 1994). She is cofounder and Board member of UC Davis CONNECT and DATA (Davis Area Technology Association). She is founding Chair of the Biopesticide Industry Alliance (BPIA), a trade association of 30 biopesticide companies. She also is on the University of California President's Board of Science and Innovation, UC Davis Graduate School of Management Dean's Advisory Council, and the Cornell's College of Ag and Life Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council.
She was the Sacramento Chamber's 2001 Businesswoman of the Year and Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences 2001 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient and a 2003 recipient of the UC Davis’ College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Alumni Award of Distinction. Her peers elected her as a Fellow of AAAS (American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science). In May 2006, Pam was named a northern California finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award and won “Best in Show” for Marrone Organic Innovations at the Golden Capital Network’s Angel and Venture Capital Investment Summit. She has a B.S. in entomology with Honors and Distinction from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in entomology from North Carolina State University.
Dr. Pam Marrone Marrone Organic Innovations Fellow
Dr. Pam Marrone Marrone Organic Innovations Fellow
Biotechnology - Other 2005 Nominees (Associates)
Pamela Marrone
2004 World Technology Awards Winners & Finalists
Pamela Marrone
Please describe the work that you are doing that you consider to be the most innovative and of the greatest likely long-term significance.
Since age nine, Pam Marrone has been chasing all manner of insects. Her fascination led her to pursue her PhD in entomology, after which, she was pursued by biotech giant, Monsanto, and went on to lead its Insect Biotechnology group. Eventually, Pam founded two “pure” biotech companies, Entotech and AgraQuest, a Davis-CA company that Pam founded in 1995. There, Pam and her team discover naturally occurring microorganisms, develop those into effective disease and pest-killers and manufacture those products for agricultural, institutional and home use. The challenge has been overcoming the “green” stereotype that natural solutions aren’t as effective or cost-competitive as their chemical counterparts.
Pam faced serious hurdles in her quest to compete against chemical solutions. Although chemical pesticides can be harmful to humans and animals, and ineffective when pests build resistance to them, they have, nonetheless dominated the industry for decades because they are effective and reasonably inexpensive. To compete in the fiercely cost-competitive world of farming, Pam’s first and largest target market, Pam and her team had to prove that natural solutions, or biofungicides, could offer “green” benefits to humans and the environment, and a cost-competitive solution with proven business results.
It's long been thought that biopesticides do not have the shelf life, cost, efficacy and ease of use of chemicals. The industry has reached a turning point with AgraQuest's unique approach. From Napa Valley wineries to Costa Rican banana farms, AgraQuest’s organic products have proven that natural pesticides offer the same level of protection against mildews, blights, rust spots and other diseases as chemicals do, but without the residues that can endanger the safety of people, animals and the environment.
After discovering and screening over 23,000 microorganisms for their effectiveness against the most damaging crop diseases (costing farmers $5 billion annually) and convincing the skeptical agricultural market, AgraQuest hit its stride. It developed several strains of naturally occurring bacteria and commercialized these into a line of innovative, effective, natural products for pest management. Now used by conventional and organic growers around the world, AgraQuest offers the following EPA approved products: Serenade and Sonata biofungicides for fruits and vegetables, Biotune adjuvant for Serenade, and Rhapsody biofungicide and biobactericide for ornamentals.
Under Pam’s leadership, AgraQuest produces natural, effective and environmentally safe pesticides at a fraction of the time and cost needed to develop conventional pesticides. In 2003, Pam led AgraQuest to bring products from four countries to 11; grew the company’s product count from one to five; and increased market share in California premium wine grapes from 12 to 16%, in California lettuce from 12 to 18% and in Florida fresh tomatoes from 60 to 75%. AgraQuest’s patents and proprietary knowledge allow them to bring a natural pest management product to market in approximately three years, for approximately $6-10 million, compared to chemical pesticides, which take at least $180 million and 9-10 years to register for use.
As a woman and a scientist, Pam continues to be recognized as a rising star. In Washington D.C. in October 2003, AgraQuest received the EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Award along with industry giants like Dupont and Dow. The following month, Pam was honored alongside wine magnate, Robert Mondavi, with UC Davis’ College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Award of Distinction. Sacramento Magazine named Pam one of 2003’s 30 Powerful Women alongside Fortune 500 executives. In 2004, Red Herring named AgraQuest a top 100 private company, the only ag-bio company and only one of 13 life sciences companies.
Pam’s accolades from peers, academia and the government as a leader in the economically viable green industry only strengthens Pam’s resolve to continue her quest to tap the natural world for new answers to deadly diseases.
Brief Biography
Dr. Pam Marrone founded AgraQuest in 1995. Dr. Marrone was founding president and business unit head for Entotech, Inc. (1990-1995) in Davis (CA), a successful biopesticide subsidiary of Denmark-based Novo Nordisk (sold to Abbott in 1995). At Monsanto (1983-1990), she led the Insect Biology group, which was involved in pioneering projects in transgenic crops, natural products, and microbial pesticides.
With a worldwide reputation, Dr. Marrone serves on important state and federal advisory committees and is in demand as a speaker. She has published many articles and book chapters on agricultural biotechnology and biopesticide topics and has been featured in the LA Times, Fortune, USA Today, Success, Genetic Engineering News, Farm Chemicals and others. She has a B.S. in entomology with Honors and Distinction from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in entomology from North Carolina State University. She has completed over 20 executive-level business courses, including CORO Foundation's intensive "Women in Leadership" program. She is on the Board of the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy and Sutter Health's Sacramento-Sierra Region, Sacramento's largest private employer. She is cofounder and Board member of UC Davis CONNECT and DATA (Davis Area Technology Association). She is founder and Chair of the Biopesticide Industry Alliance (BPIA), an alliance of 25 biopesticide companies. She serves on the Board of the National Foundation for IPM Education. She also is on the University of California President's Board of Science and Innovation and the UC President's Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources. She was the Sacramento Chamber's 2001 Businesswoman of the Year and Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences 2002 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient.
AgraQuest
Please describe the work that you are doing that you consider to be the most innovative and of the greatest likely long-term significance.
AgraQuest is a biotechnology company focused on leveraging its proprietary and proven screening technology and microorganism database to discover, develop, manufacture and market safe and effective natural pest management products for agricultural and other markets. Our technology enables us to discover and characterize naturally occurring microorganisms that can be developed into natural product solutions for almost any pest or plant disease. We are developing a portfolio of natural products that offer superior alternatives to existing synthetic chemical or genetically modified pest management products. Although our primary focus is on natural pest management products, our technology can be employed for the discovery and development of animal health, human health, aquaculture, industrial enzyme and specialty chemical products.
Using our proprietary technology, we screen naturally occurring microorganisms to identify those that may have novel and effective pest management characteristics. We then employ natural product chemistry to analyze and characterize the compound structures produced by selected microorganisms, to ensure there are no toxins, and to identify product candidates for further development and commercialization. To date, we have screened over 23,000 microorganisms, enabling us to identify more than 20 product candidates that display high levels of activity against insects, nematodes and plant pathogens. These include Serenade®, Sonata®, and Rhapsody ®biological fungicides, Virtuoso™ biological insecticide and Arabesque™ Biofumigant, all of which compete favorably with existing pest management products on efficacy, cost effectiveness, pest resistance, shelf life, ease of use, food and worker safety and environmental impact.
Company scientists have traveled the world, from forests in Eastern Europe to fields in South America, searching for tiny microbes that fight against the diseases and pests that cause havoc on crops. Once located, these microorganisms are screened, cultivated, and optimized in AgraQuest’s facilities and then sent—in powder or liquid form—to growers who apply AgraQuest’s product to their crops. The microbes attack diseases and pests, leaving no residue behind.
It's long been thought that biopesticides do not have the shelf life, cost, efficacy and ease of use of chemicals. The industry has reached a turning point with AgraQuest's unique approach. From Napa Valley wineries to banana farms in Costa Rica, AgraQuest’s organic products have proven that natural pesticides—or fungicides—offer the same level of protection against mildews, blights, rust spots and other diseases as chemicals do, but without the residues that can endanger the safety of people, animals and the environment.
While $28 billion is spent each year on chemical pesticides, challenges mount as home gardeners, commercial growers, packers, and processors are pressured to find effective, but safer, non-toxic alternatives. Additional threats include pest resistance (more than 500 known pests currently), government regulations phasing out widely used conventional pesticides, growing public skepticism about the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and increase of stricter international trade laws that affect the import and export of a number of chemically-treated agricultural crops. At the same time, demands for efficient, high yield production of crops increase, and environmentalists and regulators debate the future of home, garden, and commercial pesticide use.
AgraQuest produces natural, effective and environmentally safe pesticides at a fraction of the time and cost needed to develop conventional pesticides. Our patents and proprietary knowledge brings a natural pest management product to market in approximately three years, for approximately $6-10 million, compared to chemical pesticides, which take at least $180 million and 9-10 years to register for use.
The EPA awarded AgraQuest the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for developing a fungicide safe for use near humans and animals. Red Herring’s 100 Top Private Companies award named AgraQuest as a biotech that is “most likely to change the world”.
