Evogene

Evogene is headquartered in Rehovot and trades on Nasdaq and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the symbol EVGN.[1][2] Its current model applies ChemPass AI to discover and optimize small molecules for pharmaceutical and agricultural uses, while combining internal product programs with external collaborations.[1][4]

The company generally performs computational discovery and optimization, while collaborators may conduct experimental development and later-stage commercialization. Its potential revenue streams include upfront payments, research and development fees, milestone payments, and royalties.[2] This focus represents a substantial change from Evogene's earlier work in plant genomics and from the broader subsidiary portfolio it developed during the 2010s.[2][5]

Evogene traces its origins to October 10, 1999, when it was incorporated as Agro Leads Ltd., a subsidiary of the Israeli computational genomics company Compugen Ltd.[2] The founding concept applied Compugen's in-silico discovery platform to the challenge of developing improved crop varieties.[6] In 2002 the company became an independent Israeli corporation and adopted the name Evogene Ltd.[2]

Evogene listed its shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 2007.[2] In November 2013 it announced an $86 million U.S. public offering of five million shares and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.[7][2] The company transferred its U.S. listing from the NYSE to Nasdaq in December 2016, where it continues to trade under the symbol EVGN.[2] By 2013 Evogene had commercialization agreements with some of the world's largest seed companies and was conducting field tests on wheat, corn, rice, soybean, banana, tomato, and canola.[6]

A significant early milestone was a collaboration with Monsanto signed in 2008.[8] Under the arrangement, Monsanto agreed to invest a total of $65 million in stages — an initial $18 million for a 13.5% stake, an option for a further $12 million, and approximately $35 million in advance and annual research payments — while the two companies would jointly identify and test genes affecting yield, environmental tolerance, and fertilizer use across crops including maize, soy, canola, and cotton.[8] Evogene was also eligible for milestone payments and royalties if products reached the market.[8] By the time a 2022 retrospective was published, the companies had reportedly transferred some 1,000 genes under the expanded agreement, but the products covered by the collaboration had not reached market, with difficulties attributed to the complexity of linking individual genes to traits, the role of gene-environment interactions, longer regulatory timelines, and public opposition to genetically modified plants.[5]

Evogene developed a broader Computational Predictive Biology platform combining computational discovery with biology, chemistry, and data science. Following its 2025 strategic shift, the company's current activity centers on ChemPass AI and small-molecule discovery.[9][2] ChemPass AI is a generative-AI system that explores chemical space to design small molecules optimized for efficacy, selectivity, safety profile, and manufacturability — all before laboratory synthesis.[4] As CEO Ofer Haviv explained, "The way to efficiency is through the use of advanced computing capabilities based on artificial intelligence and big data in order to predict the results of experiments and thus significantly reduce the number of experiments required to reach the product."[10]

ChemPass AI encompasses several internally developed tools: PointHit for virtual screening, ActiveSearch for finding analogues and refining chemical series, and LeadOp GPT for generative small-molecule design that optimizes multiple project-specific parameters simultaneously.[2] The platform's virtual chemical space was expanded from approximately 36 billion to approximately 110 billion molecules in August 2026, and the company integrated advanced AI agents into its computational workflow in June 2026 to automate complex research tasks and improve operational scalability.[3]

By mid-2025 Evogene had completed a collaboration with Google Cloud centered on building a foundation model for generating molecular candidates; the training dataset contained approximately 38 billion molecular structures, and the company reported design precision of approximately 90%.[2] A second Google Cloud collaboration, initiated in February 2026, focused on integrating AI agents into ChemPass AI using Vertex AI.[2]

Before the 2025 strategic pivot to small molecules, the platform also included MicroBoost AI, which predicted bacterial activity relevant to agricultural and human-health applications, and GeneRator AI, used in genetic-element discovery.[10][2] Earlier still, the PointHit platform had been applied to herbicide discovery, backed by a chemical database of more than 70 million compounds from synthetic and natural sources, with computational predictions of each compound's ability to penetrate plants and produce a herbicidal effect.[11]

Beginning with a formal restructuring announced in 2018, Evogene separated its operating activities into a set of subsidiaries, each licensed to use the parent company's computational platform within a defined domain.[12] The model was intended to attract subsidiary-level investment and give each unit greater independence, while Evogene retained the underlying technology.

Lavie Bio developed bacterial compositions — applied to plants, seed coatings, or surrounding soil — to improve crop performance.[13] In 2019 Corteva Agriscience invested $10 million in Lavie Bio, acquiring a 30% stake and transferring the assets of its microbiome company Taxon Biosciences, including a large bacterial-sample collection.[13] A wheat-seed coating developed using MicroBoost AI, intended to improve plant uptake of phosphorus, sulfur, and iron, completed four years of field trials and launched commercially in North Dakota, with trials indicating a potential yield increase of approximately 3–4 bushels (90–120 kg) per acre.[14] In April 2025 ICL agreed to acquire the majority of Lavie Bio's activities for approximately $15 million, with Evogene's MicroBoost AI for Agriculture technology sold separately for approximately $3.5 million; the transaction closed in July 2025 for total consideration of approximately $18.7 million.[15][2]

Biomica was spun off in 2018 to develop microbiome-based therapeutics, using MicroBoost AI to analyze relationships between human-associated bacteria and the body.[16] In 2022 Biomica signed an agreement for a $20 million financing round.[17] By August 2026, Biomica had completed a Phase 1 clinical trial and licensed its oncology candidate BMC128 to Lishan Pharmaceuticals, after which it ceased ongoing operations; it completed a $2.7 million dividend distribution in the second quarter of 2026, of which Evogene received approximately $1.35 million.[3]

AgPlenus was created to apply Evogene's computational system to the discovery and adaptation of chemical pest-control products for use in agriculture.[12][9] The subsidiary held a collaboration agreement with Bayer that concluded in May 2026.[3] Its Septoria crop-protection program was reported in August 2026 as approaching the end of Lead Optimization, with synthesized molecules undergoing advanced biological testing.[3]

Casterra used Evogene's AI-based genomics technology to develop improved castor varieties for biofuel production.[18] The company claimed its castor varieties yielded four to six times more than wild varieties, with oil content of approximately 50% compared with 30%–40% or less in natural varieties.[18] In 2023 Casterra secured a $9.1 million initial order for proprietary castor seeds, targeted for cultivation in Africa.[18][2] By August 2026 it had realigned its activities to focus exclusively on Brazil.[3]

Canonic was established as an Evogene subsidiary focused on developing improved medical-cannabis varieties through computational genomics, targeting conditions including PTSD, severe chronic pain, and cancer.[19] Canonic used crossbreeding guided by genomic analysis rather than genetic engineering to identify and stabilize desirable cannabis genetics.[20]

Beyond its subsidiaries, Evogene entered a multiyear R&D collaboration with DuPont Pioneer in 2017 on microbiome-based seed treatments for corn, with Pioneer contributing application and product-development expertise and receiving worldwide marketing rights to resulting products in exchange for milestone payments and royalties to Evogene.[21] In 2016 Evogene and Arcadia Biosciences received a BIRD (Binational Industrial Research and Development) grant to develop novel drought-tolerant wheat varieties.[22] In 2018 Evogene agreed to work with Brazil's Instituto Mato-grossense do Algodão on insect-resistant cotton, focusing on genes effective against the cotton boll weevil and fall armyworm, with a commercial license to be negotiated if laboratory validation succeeded.[23]

Evogene's development illustrates an effort to apply computational discovery across several life-sciences fields and then concentrate the resulting expertise on small-molecule design. During 2025 the company decided to focus on small-molecule product development and discontinued investment in MicroBoost AI and GeneRator AI.[2] Following the sale of Lavie Bio and MicroBoost AI for Agriculture to ICL, and the winding down of Biomica's operations after its BMC128 licensing deal, the company reorganized around three units: a computational unit developing and operating ChemPass AI, a pharmaceutical unit advancing internal small-molecule drug candidates, and an agricultural unit continuing programs and collaborations through AgPlenus.[2]

As of August 2026, Evogene reported six active drug-development collaborations, including four entered since the start of that year.[3] Two collaboration programs had completed an initial Hit Identification stage, with validation results the company described as exceeding partners' expectations, and an internal drug-discovery program had advanced into Lead Optimization.[3] The company's pipeline thus spans both pharmaceutical and crop-protection applications, united by the ChemPass AI engine.

For fiscal 2025, Evogene reported revenue of approximately $3.853 million and a net loss of approximately $7.827 million, with cash and cash equivalents at year-end of approximately $12.956 million.[2] The annual report said conditions raised substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern, while management concluded that planned measures could alleviate that doubt for at least the following 12 months. Those measures included cost reductions, reprioritization of R&D, pursuit of collaboration and licensing revenue, and possible additional financing.[2] As of June 30, 2026, cash and equivalents stood at approximately $9.3 million, with full-year 2026 cash usage forecast at approximately $8.5–$9.5 million.[3]

Evogene's earlier plant-genomics work involved genetic modification of crops, a field subject to public opposition and regulatory complexity. A 2022 retrospective noted that products from the Monsanto collaboration never reached market, citing the scientific difficulty of linking specific genes to traits in real-world environments, lengthy regulatory processes, and consumer and market resistance to genetically modified organisms as contributing factors.[5]

In July 2026 investors associated with Kfir Zilberman and Ron Yair Feld, holding a combined 16.7% of Evogene through L.I.A Pure Capital and Invest-Pro, requested that the board convene a shareholders' meeting within 21 days and sought to replace five of six directors while retaining CEO Ofer Haviv.[24] The investors alleged the board had failed to create expected shareholder value and that the company's strategy had not produced sustainable commercial success.[24] Calcalist reported a net loss of NIS 25 million for 2025, a NIS 19 million loss for the first quarter of 2026, a market capitalization of approximately NIS 23 million at the time of reporting, and a roughly 96% share-price decline over the preceding three years — figures reported in the context of the investor campaign.[24] A Globes company-news page later listed an Evogene response on August 31, 2026, and a September 16 filing concerning discussions with shareholders and director resignations, although the listing did not provide the full details.[9]

Sources use different starting points when describing Evogene's foundation. Globes described it as founded in 2002 in a company profile but as founded in 2000 in a 2013 offering report.[6][7] Evogene's 2025 annual report provides a more detailed chronology: incorporation as Agro Leads Ltd. on October 10, 1999, followed by its separation from Compugen and adoption of the Evogene name in 2002.[2]