Editing Monsanto (section)

====1980 to 1989: Becoming an agribiotech company====
Monsanto scientists were among the first to genetically modify a plant cell, publishing their results in 1983.<ref name=pbn/> Five years later the company conducted the first field tests of [[genetically modified crops]]. Increasing involvement in [[agricultural biotechnology]] dates from the installment of Richard Mahoney as Monsanto's [[Chief executive officer|CEO]] in 1983.<ref name=":0" /> This involvement increased under the leadership of [[Robert B. Shapiro|Robert Shapiro]], appointed CEO in 1995, leading ultimately to the disposition of product lines unrelated to agriculture.<ref name=":0" />

In 1985, Monsanto acquired [[G.D. Searle, LLC|G.D. Searle & Company]], a [[life sciences]] company that focused on pharmaceuticals, agriculture and animal health. In 1993, its Searle division filed a patent application for [[celecoxib|Celebrex]],<ref>[http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/ob/docs/patexclnew.cfm?Appl_No=020998&Product_No=003&table1=OB_Rx Orange Book: Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations]. accessdata.fda.gov</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US5466823A/en|title=Substituted pyrazolyl benzenesulfonamides}}</ref> which in 1998 became the first selective [[COX-2 inhibitor|COX‑2 inhibitor]] to be approved by the U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/nda/98/20998.cfm |title=Drug Approval Package: Celebrex (Celecoxib) NDA# 20-998 |publisher=Accessdata.fda.gov}}</ref> Celebrex became a [[blockbuster drug]] and was often mentioned as a key reason for [[Pfizer]]'s acquisition of Monsanto's pharmaceutical business in 2002.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Frank, Robert |author2=Hensley, Scott |name-list-style=amp |title=Pfizer to Buy Pharmacia For $60 Billion in Stock|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1026684057282753560|work=The Wall Street Journal |date=July 16, 2002}}</ref>