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

Date:10-01-2024

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 2030[1]. 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″.

[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