REHOVOT, Israel, Sept. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evogene Ltd. (NASDAQ, TASE: EVGN), a leading biotechnology
company developing novel products for life science markets, announced today a significant milestone in its next generation
herbicide pipeline. Evogene’s Ag-Chemicals division demonstrated biological proof in lab assays that Evogene discovered molecule
families bind to essential target proteins representing new MoA’s (Mode-of-Action). These next generation herbicide candidates have
the potential to overcome the industry’s main hurdle – growing weed resistance, with improved efficacy while maintaining a high
standard of safety since they have now been proven to address novel target proteins not present in humans.
Herbicides are weed killing chemicals, part of the general pesticide and crop protection market. The market size
attributed to herbicides was estimated at more than $20B in 20161. Herbicide protection plays an important role in
global food security; for example, without herbicide protection it is estimated that approximately 20% of the global crop yield of
wheat would be lost2. Current herbicide products are based on known targets and MoA’s introduced to market over 30 years
ago, while weed resistance to these solutions is globally on the rise, creating a critical need for next generation herbicides
based on new MoA’s.
Evogene’s Ag-Chemicals division herbicide pipeline has been established through the use of the Company’s broadly
applicable CPB (Computational Predictive Biology) platform. The CPB platform’s discovery and optimization processes of chemical
molecules take into account an array of product attributes, including different aspects of commercial viability and safety profile
required according to new regulatory standards.
As reported in the past, these chemical families have already been evaluated in lab and greenhouse testing where
herbicidal activity was demonstrated, and today, Evogene has announced that such chemical families were also proven to inhibit the
predicted novel targets representing a new MoA. These chosen novel targets are not present in humans and therefore have a potential
high safety profile.
Further steps include optimization of the chemical compound ‘families’ to improve herbicidal efficacy in
greenhouse testing, towards achieving commercial efficacy, which will then be validated in field trials.
Eran Kosover, EVP and GM, Ag-Chemicals stated: “We are very excited by the important
achievement announced today, as the industry has not seen a herbicide based on a new MoA for over 30 years. We are now moving
forward rapidly on a development path designed to overcome one of the most pressing challenges in the market – increasing
resistance to herbicides.”
Ofer Haviv, Evogene's President and CEO stated: “While our Ag-Chemicals division was
established only in 2014, we are happy by the continuous progress of this division and the milestone announced today, showing a new
MoA with the binding of Evogene discovered chemicals to novel target proteins. This continuous progress was achieved with the use
of our unique CPB platform. We believe that these unique capabilities are leading to the development of potent next generation
herbicides with a high safety profile.”
About Evogene Ltd.:
Evogene (NASDAQ, TASE: EVGN) is a leading biotechnology company developing novel products for major life science
markets through the use of a unique computational predictive biology (CPB) platform incorporating deep scientific understandings
and advanced computational technologies. This platform is utilized by the Company to discover and develop innovative ag-chemical,
ag-biological and ag-seed products (GM and non-GM), and by two subsidiaries; Evofuel, focused on castor seeds, and Biomica, focused
on human microbiome therapeutics. Through its collaborations with world-leading agricultural companies such as BASF, Corteva, Bayer
and ICL, Evogene has licensed genes, small molecules and microbes to partners under milestone and royalty bearing agreements. 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”, "intends", “anticipates”, “plans”, “believes”, “scheduled”, “estimates” or words of similar
meaning. 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 may differ materially from what is expressed or implied by
such forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, many of which beyond Evogene's control, including, without limitation,
those risk factors contained in Evogene’s reports filed with the appropriate securities authority. Evogene disclaims 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:
Nir Zalik
IR/PR Manager
E: IR@evogene.com
T: (+972)-8-931-1963
US Investor Relations
Vivian Cervantes
PCG Advisory
E: vivian@pcgadvisory.com
T: 646-863-6274
1 Phillips McDougall
2 According to industry estimates
