The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

200 the world according to monsantotechnologies,” and continued: “As we work to help develop constructive answersto all the questions that people around the world have at the dawningof this new technology, we are committed to engage openly, honestly andnon-defensively in the kind of discussion that can produce good answers forall of us. ...To me, that means, among other things, listening carefully andrespectfully to all points of view.”As he spoke those words, Shapiro was desperately seeking a partner tosave the company. First, he held discussions with American Home Products,then with DuPont, but the deals fell through. Finally, on December 19,1999, Monsanto announced its merger with Pharmacia and Upjohn, originallya Swedish pharmaceutical company based in New Jersey. “The termsof the merger signaled the failure of Monsanto’s guiding vision and of its creator,Robert Shapiro,” according to Michael Watkins, a researcher at HarvardBusiness School. 47 Renamed Pharmacia, the new corporation was interestedprimarily in Searle, Monsanto’s pharmaceutical division, whose value wasthen estimated at $23 billion (it manufactured Celebrex, a leading medicinefor arthritis). But it soon sought to separate from the agrichemical divisionof Monsanto, known as “the new Monsanto,” which it finally did in the summerof 2002 (at the same time that Pharmacia was absorbed by Pfizer).The messianic vision of Robert Shapiro, who had dreamed of a companydedicated to the life sciences, was well and truly buried. When he left thecompany after the merger with Pharmacia in late 1999, the firm displayedits true face: it was indeed the largest supplier in the world of transgenicseeds, but it got 45 percent of its revenues from Roundup, which was threatenedby the arrival of generics. Shapiro was replaced by the Belgian HendrikVerfaillie, who was in turn forced to resign in December 2002 because of“poor financial performance.” 48 He was succeeded by the Scotsman HughGrant (still CEO in early 2008), who had the delicate task of getting thingsback on an even keel, while GMOs enjoyed anything but universal supportin North America, not even in farmers’ fields.