DAVIS, CALIF. and DES MOINES, IOWA – A collaboration between Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. and DuPont Pioneer will seek to develop a nutritional oil for global consumer markets, the two companies said April 9. The underlying focus will be to create new safflower varieties that produce oils with arachidonic acid, a polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid.

Arcadia Biosciences, Davis, will receive certain licenses to specific innovations and intellectual property of DuPont Pioneer, Des Moines.

“DuPont has an impressive portfolio of proprietary quality traits,” said Eric Rey, president and chief executive officer of Arcadia. “This new collaboration is an effective way to enable these innovations to get into the hands of consumers. Arcadia’s experience in the development, regulatory management, production and marketing of high-value specialty nutritional oils – as demonstrated through our launch of Sonova 400 GLA safflower oil and coupled with DuPont Pioneer’s established track record – creates a powerful alliance.”

Sonova 400 is a dietary supplement that contains gamma linolenic acid (GLA), an omega-6 fatty acid. Arcadia Biosciences, an agricultural technology company, also has facilities in Seattle and Phoenix.