Evogene announces completion of transaction for the sale of Lavie Bio’s activity to ICL
The leading computational biology company that develops innovative life-science products based on artificial intelligence and predictive biology, Evangene Ltd., Evogene has sold Lavie Bio’s operations to ICL Group, including MicroBoost AI for AG.
Earlier this year, Evogene announced its corporate strategy of selling subsidiaries in order to generate financial resources, while narrowing the company’s focus to the development of small molecules-based products for pharmaceuticals and agriculture – an area where our ChemPass AI engine provides us with a competitive edge. In collaboration with Google Cloud, we have developed a breakthrough foundational model for generative molecule design using our ChemPass AI engine. This milestone strengthens Evogene’s position as a tech-driven leader in life-science innovation.
Evangene has closed a deal in which it divested most of its agriculture-biologicals subsidiary, Lavie Bio Ltd., to ICL Group Ltd involving most of its assets and activities. Evogene has also transferred to ICL its proprietary MicroBoost AI for AG platform, which accelerates microbial product development in agriculture.
A definitive agreement was signed between ICL and Lavie Bio acquire the company’s proprietary Biology Driven Design (BDD) platform, microbial bank, pipeline of advanced development programs, and current commercial product offerings. Lavie Bio’s core personnel will also be transferred to ICL. Concurrently, Evogene has divested its MicroBoost AI Tech-Engine for Agriculture, a computational engine designed to optimize microbial discovery and development through artificial intelligence, for additional consideration.
Dr. Elinor Erez, VP R&D of Growing Solutions, ICL, stated: “This strategic acquisition of Lavie Bio reflects ICL’s continued drive to lead the global ag-biologicals market. By integrating Lavie Bio’s platform with ICL’s R&D expertise in plant nutrition solutions, global sales network, and field-based agronomy teams, we are strengthening our ability to deliver the next generation of biological solutions. This move enhances our end-to-end innovation pipeline and reinforces ICL’s role in advancing sustainable agriculture at scale.”
Computational biology company Evogene aims to revolutionize product development by implementing cutting-edge technologies to increase success probability while reducing development time and costs. A number of unique technological engines based on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence were developed by Evogene – MicroBoost AI, ChemPass AI, and GeneRator AI – and incorporated deep multidisciplinary understanding of life sciences. MicroBoost AI is focused on discovering and developing products based on microbes, ChemPass AI is focused on small molecules, and GeneRator AI is focused on genetic elements. A wide range of products are developed by Evogene through subsidiaries and strategic partnerships. As of now, Evogene’s main subsidiaries are developing human microbiome-based therapeutics through Biomica Ltd., ag-chemicals through AgPlenus Ltd., and ag-biologicals through Lavie Bio Ltd.
