The collaboration, initiated in July 2014, and supported by funding from the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation, aims to bring to market new insect control solutions – both seed traits and bio-insecticides – through leveraging the expertise and distinct assets and capabilities of each party. The parties have agreed to share revenues from any products that may result from this collaboration.
Utilizing its proprietary computational platform BiomeMiner and other predictive discovery capabilities, Evogene identified candidate proteins from tens of thousands of proteins within selected insecticidal strains from MBI’s extensive and proprietary bacterial collection. The proteins’ bioactivity for pest control was then validated in insect assays, with the result that a subset of the candidate proteins demonstrated positive insecticidal results.
The advancement represents the completion of the collaboration’s discovery phase and a shift by the companies towards product development. The bacteria that were selected to advance into MBI’s pipeline contain candidate proteins with positive insecticidal properties, while in parallel Evogene continues its product development efforts to develop seed trait solutions based on such proteins.
Pam Marrone, CEO and Founder of Marrone Bio Innovations, said, “It is exciting to see validation of the companies’ joint work in the discovery phase as we move toward product development activities. MBI already has significant experience with the development of bioinsecticide products, and we will be targeting our future efforts on filling gaps in our portfolio to better address unmet needs in the market.”
Ofer Haviv, President and CEO of Evogene, stated, “We are very pleased with the successful completion of the discovery stage for this program with both parties now advancing into product development based on Evogene-identified proteins. We look forward to continuing this collaboration with MBI and to the successful development of new insect control solutions by each of us.”
Evogene
13 Gad Feinstein st.
Park Rehovot P.O.B 2100
Rehovot 7612002,
Israel
Tel: 972-8-9311900
Fax: 972-8-9466724
info@evogene.com
www.evogene.com