Evogene Ltd. (NASDAQ: EVGN) (TASE: EVGN), a leading biotechnology company developing novel products for life science markets, announced the establishment of a new subsidiary – LaVie Bio Ltd (LaVie). The new company will focus on improving food quality, agriculture sustainability and productivity through the introduction of novel microbiome based ag-biological products.
Evogene’s ag-biological assets, capabilities and pipeline focusing on the discovery, optimization and development of sustainable ag-biological products are being transferred to the new subsidiary, along with access to Evogene’s Computational Predictive Biology (‘CPB’) platform. In addition, Evogene’s existing co-development collaboration with Corteva, the agricultural division of DowDupont, in the field of corn bio-stimulants will be transferred to LaVie.
The assets and capabilities being transferred to LaVie, are a result of Evogene’s Ag-Biologicals division’s activity initiated in 2015, and include a substantial pipeline focusing on bio-stimulant and bio-pesticide product programs. LaVie’s microbiome based product candidate pipeline addresses major needs in row crops such as corn and wheat as well as specialty crops such as vineyards. This pipeline, with its promising results, was established through the use of Evogene’s CPB platform, a well-established disruptive technology harnessing the power of Big Data and advanced computational capabilities.
LaVie’s senior management consists of the previous division managers with Ido Dor, previously the Ag-Biologicals division General Manager and Evogene EVP, now appointed as LaVie Chief Executive Officer. Ofer Haviv, Evogene’s CEO, will serve as chairman of the board of directors of the new subsidiary.
As Evogene has previously reported, in order to take full advantage of its broadly applicable CPB platform, Evogene focuses on a number of life science based industries in which its technology can serve as the key differentiator in the development of next generation products. Evogene’s strategy is to establish focused subsidiaries in each of these selected market areas – such as ag-biologicals – with both full corporate capabilities and continuing access to Evogene’s CPB platform. In addition, each of these subsidiaries will have the right to pursue their own business strategy and secure their own financial resources in the future.
Ido Dor, LaVie CEO stated:
“I am honored to receive the leadership of LaVie and excited by the opportunity to lead LaVie’s dedicated multidisciplinary team in the exciting journey of improving food quality and agriculture sustainability. With our strong pipeline and powerful technology, we are confident that this new structure will allow us to extend and accelerate our product development and commercialization efforts.”
Ofer Haviv, Evogene’s President and CEO stated:
“I am very pleased with the establishment of our ag-biologicals subsidiary – LaVie, which is another step in the execution of our corporate strategy. I believe this standalone structure will accelerate our product development and commercialization efforts. Led by Mr. Ido Dor and his talented management and scientific team, I look forward to our progress toward commercialization of novel microbiome based ag-biologicals.”