Lavie Bio Receives Grant from Israel Innovation Authority to Advance the Development of 'MicroFermentor', a Unique Technology that Can Change the Economics of Ag-Biologicals

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.

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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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