The technology aims to reduce application costs,
extend shelf life, and prolong bacterial viability after field
application
REHOVOT, Israel, Sept. 30,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Lavie Bio Ltd., a leading
ag-biologicals company and a subsidiary of Evogene Ltd. (Nasdaq:
EVGN) (TASE: EVGN), announced receiving a grant from the Israel
Innovation Authority (IIA) to advance its program to develop a
breakthrough technology for the delivery of ag-biologicals to
agriculture. This patented technology, named
'MicroFermentor', is based on an innovative microbe
formulation that enables the multiplication of beneficial bacteria
directly on the plant, reducing application costs, extending shelf
life, and prolonging the bacteria's viability after field
application. The grant was awarded following positive initial
microbe encapsulation and greenhouse validation experiments and
will support the program's next phase of development toward
commercialization.
The global ag-biologicals market is growing at a rate of over
13% annually, expected to reach nearly $33
billion by 20301. The European Union, which has
set a target in its Green Deal program to reduce the use of
chemical pesticides by 50%2, and concurrently,
North America, which is
characterized by high environmental awareness, along with a
well-developed organic/biological market with increasing demand,
strongly demonstrate consumer demand for the reduction in the use
of chemical pesticides.
The 'MicroFermentor' technology presents a unique
opportunity of significant economic value to bring a variety of new
bacterial-based ag-biologicals to the market, which currently do
not meet market requirements due to challenges in the costs of
commercial production and application, and shelf life. This will
enable an increase in the number and diversity of ag-biological
products entering the market.
Lavie Bio will be implementing
the 'MicroFermentor' technology on its own product pipeline
and plans to continue with introducing it to its collaboration
partners.
Amit Noam, Lavie Bio's CEO, stated: "We are very
pleased with the advancement in the development of our
'MicroFermentor' technology, and appreciate the support of
the IIA. Lavie Bio is a world leader
in applying advanced computational technology for the discovery and
optimization of novel ag-biological products through our BDD
platform, powered by Evogene's MicroBoost AI tech-engine.
The 'MicroFermentor' technology will further enhance our
competitive advantage and our ability to introduce ground-breaking
products to the agriculture market. Our technology has the
potential to revolutionize the entire ag-biologicals industry".
About Lavie Bio Ltd.
Lavie Bio, a subsidiary of
Evogene Ltd., aims to improve food quality, sustainability, and
agriculture productivity through the introduction of
microbiome-based ag-biological products. Lavie Bio utilizes a proprietary computational
predictive platform, the BDD platform, powered by Evogene's
proprietary MicroBoost AI tech-engine, harnessing the power of big
data, artificial intelligence, and advanced informatics, for the
discovery, optimization and development of bio-stimulant and
bio-pesticide products.
For more information, please visit www.lavie-bio.com.
About Evogene Ltd.
Evogene (Nasdaq: EVGN) (TASE: EVGN) is a computational biology
company aiming to revolutionize the development of life-science
based products by utilizing cutting edge technologies to increase
the probability of success while reducing development time and
cost. Evogene established three unique tech-engines - MicroBoost
AI, ChemPass AI and GeneRator AI – leveraging Big Data and
Artificial Intelligence and incorporating deep multidisciplinary
understanding in life sciences. Each tech-engine is focused on the
discovery and development of products based on one of the following
core components: microbes (MicroBoost AI), small molecules
(ChemPass AI), and genetic elements (GeneRator AI).
Evogene uses its tech-engines to develop products through
subsidiaries and strategic partnerships. Evogene's subsidiaries
currently utilize the tech-engines to develop human
microbiome-based therapeutics by Biomica, ag-biologicals by
Lavie Bio, ag-chemicals by AgPlenus,
medical cannabis products by Canonic and castor varieties, for the
biofuel and other industries, by Casterra.
For more information, please visit: www.evogene.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements"
relating to future events. These statements may be identified by
words such as "may", "could", "expects", "hopes" "intends",
"anticipates", "plans", "believes", "scheduled", "estimates",
"demonstrates" or words of similar meaning. For example, Evogene
and its subsidiaries are using forward-looking statement in this
press release when it discusses the potential for significant
economic value of the 'MicroFermentor' technology to bring a
variety of new bacterial-based ag-biologicals to the market, the
expected increase in the number and diversity of ag-biological
products entering the market, the 'MicroFermentor'
technology potential to revolutionize the ag-biologicals market,
and solidifying Lavie Bio's position
as a world leader in the ag-biologicals industry. Such statements
are based on current expectations, estimates, projections and
assumptions, describe opinions about future events, involve certain
risks and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and are not
guarantees of future performance. Therefore, actual future results,
performance or achievements of Evogene and its subsidiaries may
differ materially from what is expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, many of
which are beyond the control of Evogene and its subsidiaries,
including, without limitation, the current war between Israel and Hamas and any worsening of the
situation in Israel such as
further mobilizations or escalation in the northern border of
Israel and those risk factors
contained in Evogene's reports filed with the applicable securities
authority. In addition, Evogene and its subsidiaries rely, and
expect to continue to rely, on third parties to conduct certain
activities, such as their field-trials and pre-clinical studies,
and if these third parties do not successfully carry out their
contractual duties, comply with regulatory requirements or meet
expected deadlines, Evogene and its subsidiaries may experience
significant delays in the conduct of their activities. Evogene and
its subsidiaries disclaim any obligation or commitment to update
these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or
developments or changes in expectations, estimates, projections and
assumptions.
Contact:
ir@evogene.com
Tel: +972-8-9311901
1 Vantage Market Research, Agricultural
Biological Market, 2022 – available at:
https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/agricultural-biologicals-market-1049
2
https://food.ec.europa.eu/plants/pesticides/sustainable-use-pesticides/farm-fork-targets-progress_en
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SOURCE Lavie Bio