Genetic Crop Design Company Evogene Amends Bayer Collaboration Agreement

Nasdaq and Tel Aviv-listed genetic crops design company Evogene Ltd. announced Monday an amendment of its corn disease resistance research agreement with the crop science division of Bayer AG following positive results. The agreement is being refocused to genome editing targets for evaluation, the company said, and research of any promising targets will be continued by Bayer.

Evogene uses computational predictive biology to develop novel crop strains and pesticides in a variety of domains, including agricultural chemicals and human microbiome-based therapeutics. Under the amended collaboration, Evogene and Bayer will aim to develop corn seeds resistant to fungal diseases, which cause $7 billion in annual damages in the U.S. alone, according to Evogene.