Meiogenix, Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company known for its cutting-edge chromosome editing technology, has appointed Ricardo Garcia de Alba as its new chief executive officer. Garcia de Alba takes the helm from Luc Mathis, Ph.D., who led the company for the past four years. With a rich background in agribusiness, Garcia de Alba is poised to steer Meiogenix towards its goal of empowering farmers with advanced solutions that harness the natural genetic diversity of crops.

Garcia de Alba joins Meiogenix after a 15-year tenure at Corteva Agriscience, where he held several key leadership roles within the Seed and Crop Protection businesses. His most recent role was leading Corteva’s Global Row Crop Herbicide and Nitrogen Management Portfolio, overseeing crucial weed management strategies for major crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton, and sugarcane. His extensive experience also includes executive roles in business development, engineering, and sales and marketing for DuPont and other leading companies across the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, the U.K., and Spain.

“Meiogenix is now a Global Company, established in the U.S., that serves a broad, global market and customer base. The deep Agribusiness perspective and experience Ricardo brings, having helped Corteva in positioning farmers for growth with advanced tools, technologies, and strategies, will propel Meiogenix to achieve its vision. We welcome Ricardo and look forward to working with him to take Meiogenix through the next stage of its growth,” said Johan Cardoen, former CEO of CropDesign, former Managing Director of Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB) and Meiogenix Chairman of the Board.

As the world grapples with the need for more sustainable agriculture, Meiogenix’s innovative chromosome editing technology offers a promising solution. By accelerating the natural process of generating biodiversity through the random mixing of parental genomes during plant reproduction, Meiogenix addresses key global food and industrial challenges. This technology not only speeds up the lengthy process of plant variety selection but also enhances biodiversity, which has been compromised by the focus on high yield and long shelf life. The company’s approach has the potential to restore plant immunity to pests and diseases and improve the quality, taste, and flavor of many crops, potentially transforming the agri-food tech sector.

“I am grateful to join an organization with innovation that has such extraordinary potential, having been so successfully developed by a top-performing team,” said Garcia de Alba. "Ever since I was introduced to Meiogenix for the first time, the company, the technology, and the team involved captured my interest, excitement, and enthusiasm. I look forward to leading the team through this exciting and critical part of the company’s journey.”

Under the leadership of Luc Mathis, Meiogenix secured a $13 million (€11 million) Series A financing round in December 2021. This funding has positioned the company for significant growth and development opportunities.

“The solid work of our development team has positioned us for exciting growth opportunities. The proof that the technology is effective in both monocots and dicots plants opens the path to the development of commercial applications, products, and promising partnerships,” said Mathis. “I am confident that, under Ricardo’s leadership, the next phase of Meiogenix’s development will bring a new level of innovation, and I look forward to seeing a whole spectrum of new possibilities unfold.”

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