Evogene announces positive results in Insect Control Seed Trait Program and advancement to Phase-I of first toxin against Wes...
June 20 2017 - 7:00AM
Evogene Ltd. (NASDAQ:EVGN) (TASE:EVGN), a leading company for the
improvement of crop productivity and economics for food, feed and
fuel, announced today the advancement of a gene displaying
insecticidal activity against Western corn rootworm into Phase-I
focusing on validation in target crops, following positive
laboratory assay results. Additionally, the company announced for
the first time the identification of a set of genes displaying
initial toxic activity against southern green stinkbug, a major
pest in soybean and other crops.
Evogene is advancing into Phase-I a gene,
EVO30495, displaying high potency against Western corn rootworm,
which is a major pest in corn. EVO30495 has met all of the phase
advancement criteria, including efficacy and initial estimation of
lower risk of toxicity to other organisms such as bees, animals and
humans. Phase-I will include introduction of the gene into corn,
followed by greenhouse experiments and further validation
activities; initial results are anticipated within 1-2 years.
Evogene’s insect control seed trait program was
initiated in 2014 and addresses numerous insect orders which pose
serious threats to crop productivity, including Coleoptera,
Lepedoptera and Hemiptera. The program is based on the utilization
of Evogene's unique predictive computational discovery platform and
proprietary metagenomics data, at its research facilities in
Israel. The predicted genes were then validated at Evogene’s
R&D site in St. Louis. This approach has already resulted in
genes displaying initial insecticidal activity against major crop
pests, with several genes at the later stages of discovery, and
includes today’s advancement of EVO30495 into Phase-I.
Additionally, for the first time Evogene has
identified a set of genes displaying initial toxic activity against
another major pest, the southern green stinkbug. The discovery of
toxin gene traits against stinkbug is particularly significant, as
there are currently no commercially available insect control seed
trait solutions for this major pest in soybean and other crops.
Ofer Haviv, Evogene's President and CEO,
stated: “We are very pleased to announce the rapid
advancement of our insecticidal seed trait program, and in
particular these two specific achievements that address major
market needs. Our novel toxin for Western corn rootworm that is now
being advanced into Phase-I addresses an existing $1.5 billion
market. Furthermore, the identification of genes showing
toxic activity against stinkbugs is very exciting since this is a
significant agricultural pest with an estimated market potential of
over $1 billion, without any currently available commercial seed
trait solution.”
Mr. Haviv concluded: “I look
forward to reporting continued progress in our insect control
program as we continue to demonstrate the power of our
multidisciplinary predictive discovery approach to the substantial
and increasing unmet needs in this important market area.”
About Evogene Ltd.:Evogene
(NASDAQ:EVGN) (TASE:EVGN) is a leading biotechnology company for
the improvement of crop productivity for the food, feed and fuel
industries. The Company operates in three key target markets:
improved seed traits (addressing yield increase, tolerance to
environmental stresses and resistance to insects and diseases);
innovative ag-chemicals (developing novel herbicide solutions for
weed control); and ag-biologicals. Evogene has collaborations with
world-leading seed and ag-chemical companies. For more information,
please visit www.evogene.com or contact the Company at
info@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:
Alex Taskar
Chief Financial Officer
E: IR@evogene.com
T: (+972)-8-931-1963
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