AgPlenus achieves milestone in collaboration with Corteva to develop novel herbicides

AgPlenus Ltd., a global leader in designing and developing novel sustainable crop protection products and a subsidiary of Evogene Ltd. (Nasdaq: EVGN, TASE: EVGN), recently announced that it has achieved a milestone in the collaboration with Corteva Agriscience (NYSE: CTVA), a leading pure-play agriculture company, for the development of novel herbicides. The milestone marks the successful identification of a new family of molecules exhibiting herbicidal effect through a novel Mode of Action (MoA), APCO-12, discovered by AgPlenus.

Herbicide market is estimated at $42.81 billion in 2024[1]. Most commercially available herbicides are based on small molecules that inhibit target proteins (MoAs) in weeds, leading to weed mortality. In recent years the global agricultural industry has faced a growing challenge of weed resistance to existing herbicides, created in part by a limited number of new MoAs for weed control in the last three decades.

The collaboration, commencing in 2020, aims to develop a new MoA herbicide by merging Corteva’s leadership in product discovery with AgPlenus’s computational technology platform. Today, AgPlenus announced that, together with Corteva, they have identified a new potential class of herbicidal molecules through a novel MoA APCO-12.

In the next phase, the collaboration will focus on optimizing the identified class of molecules towards a commercial-level product, utilizing AgPlenus’ cutting-edge computational technology, powered by Evogene’s ChemPass AI tech engine and Corteva’s industry leading R&D capabilities.

Vid Hegde, VP of Crop Protection Discovery and Development at Corteva, said ″Farmers are in dire need of new technologies to address weed resistance challenges. The collaboration with AgPlenus has accelerated the identification of a class of herbicide chemistry that targets a new mode-of-action for weed control, something the industry has been lacking for decades.″

Dr. Dan Gelvan, CEO of AgPlenus, said ″we are excited about the milestone achieved in our collaboration with Corteva Agriscience, which reflects the synergy established between the teams. Our commitment to advancing sustainable agriculture remains steadfast, and we look forward to delivering innovative herbicide solutions to farmers worldwide.″

[1] https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/global-herbicides-market-industry