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Evogene Ltd. Investor Presentation 2024
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Investor Presentation
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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of January 2024
Commission File Number: 001-36187
EVOGENE LTD.
(Translation of Registrant's Name into English)
13 Gad Feinstein Street, Park Rehovot, Rehovot P.O.B 4173, Ness Ziona, 7414002, Israel (Address of principal executive offices)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F☒Form 40-F☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ____
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ____
CONTENTS
Attached hereto and incorporated by reference herein is the following exhibit:
99.1Evogene Investor Presentation.
Signature
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
EVOGENE LTD. (Registrant)
Date: January 9, 2024
By: /s/ Yaron Eldad Yaron Eldad Chief Financial Officer
COMPANY PRESENTATION
January 9, 2024 Ofer Haviv, President & CEO
Forward Looking Statement
This presentation contains "forward-looking statements" relating to future events. These statements may be identified by words such as "may", "could", "expects", "hopes" "intends", "anticipates", "plans", "believes", "scheduled", "estimates", "demonstrates" or words of similar meaning. For example, Evogene and its subsidiaries are using forward-looking statement in this presentation when it discusses its value drivers, commercialization efforts and timing, product development and launches, estimated market sizes and milestones, pipeline, its capabilities and technology.
Such statements are based on current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions, describe opinions about future events, involve certain risks and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and are not guarantees of future performance. Therefore, actual future results, performance or achievements of Evogene and its subsidiaries may differ materially from what is expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond the control of Evogene and its subsidiaries, including, without limitation, the current war between Israel and Hamas and any worsening of the situation in Israel such as further mobilizations or escalation in the northern boarder of Israel, and those risk factors contained in Evogene's reports filed with the applicable securities authority (including in its Annual Report on Form 20-F).
In addition, Evogene and its subsidiaries rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties to conduct certain activities, such as their field-trials and preclinical studies, and if these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, comply with regulatory requirements or meet expected deadlines, Evogene and its subsidiaries may experience significant delays in the conduct of their activities. Evogene and its subsidiaries disclaim any obligation or commitment to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or developments or changes in expectations, estimates, projections, and assumptions.
The information contained herein does not constitute a prospectus or other offering document, nor does it constitute or form part of any invitation or offer to sell, or any solicitation of any invitation or offer to purchase or subscribe for, any securities of Evogene or the Company, nor shall the information or any part of it or the fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any action, contract, commitment or relating thereto or to the securities of Evogene or the Company.
The trademarks included herein are the property of the owners thereof and are used for reference purposes only. Such use should not be construed as an endorsement of our products or services.
Agenda
About Evogene
Business Model
Success Stories
Summary
Annex I - Financial overview Annex II - Evogene subsidiaries
OUR VISION
Revolutionize the development of life-science based products, utilizing cutting edge computational biology technologies
DECODING BIOLOGY
Life Science Product Development – Current State
Low probability of success with high cost and long time-to-market
*https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/10/16/the-cost-of-developing-drugs-is-insane-a-paper-that-argued-otherwise-was-insanely-bad/?sh=7533aa82d459; Phillips McDougall, 2016.
The Ultimate Case of Finding the "Needle in the Haystack"
The challenge: finding the winning candidates out of a vast number of possible prospects that address a complex myriad of criteria, to reach successful products
The Opportunity
Utilizing advanced computational biology technologies
to discover and optimize the most promising candidates addressing multiple development challenges towards successful life-science based products
Increase probability of success
Reduce time
Reduce cost
Our Solution When Biology Meets Disruptive Technologies
Incorporating deep scientific understanding with big data and advanced AI technologies, to successfully discover & guide the optimization of novel life-science based products
– Computational Predictive Biology
Tailored AI Tech-Engines
The CPB platform directs and accelerates product discovery and optimization through dedicated AI Tech-Engines for products based on three core components:
- Microbes
- Small molecules
- Genetic elements
AI Tech-Engines to direct & accelerate product discovery & optimization
Discovery
Computational selection of the most promising candidates to initiate the product development process.
Optimization
Computational driven solution addressing optimization challenges for the selected candidates, without impairing their ability to address other product attributes.
AI Tech-Engine Dashboard
(Example)
| Discovery | 01 Dataset generation ----- | V 02 Function prediction ----- |
03 Bacteria prediction | 04 Mining and selection | 05 Regulation & Patentability | 06 Experimental validation | 07 Experimental data analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (■) | Generate phylogenetic tree (8) CorBac Download public |
Function | Function to Organism (F20) (@) Bacteria trait |
Explore bacteria இ trait prediction results Explore F20 |
(日) APHIS compliance | (6) Experiment design | (ਬ Fungi experiments Phytium pipeline |
| 0 genomes ම Generate |
@ Explore Productions phenotype |
exploration apps Cluster,EvoCOG,KEG G,BLAST,EvoCOG |
(@) prediction (ML) |
ල results Function (ව exploration apps |
(日) Silva ( Patentability |
(8) Fungi experiments Phytium pipeline (8) anlaysis |
(9) anlaysis (भ Insecticide plant assays |
| Strain exploration இ apps |
Insecticide plant இ assays |
||||||
| (Strain teaming | (Station1 | ||||||
| AZZ | 46,237 Integrated bacterial genomes 200,599,577 Proteins in our ortholog database |
ה ה database 3 |
6,650,502 Ortholog groups in function 93,995 Ortholog-phenotype associations |
CHECK NOW | Check the new app for EvoCOGs association with phenotypes Explore your bacteria for EvoCOGs linked to a specific phenotype , retrieve EvoCOGs linked to specific phenotypes or retrieve bacterial genomes with EvoCOGs linked to specific phenotypes. |
Potential Market Diversity
Structuring an 'ecosystem' of diverse product types to be developed utilizing our AI Tech-Engines
Potential Markets for MicroBoost AI (Example)
Agenda
About Evogene
Success Stories
Summary
Annex I – Financial overview Annex II – Evogene subsidiaries
Evogene's AI Tech-Engines - Potential Markets
Business Strategy
Capture the value of our AI tech-engines as product-development enablers, through two types of business models:
Licensing
A time-limited license grant to utilize one of Evogene's tech-engines, to a third party for product development in a defined commercial field. In most cased the third party will be a subsidiary, or a related party, of Evogene.
Collaboration
Joint product development with leading companies utilizing Evogene's unique tech-engines. Typically, the partner leads later-stage development and product commercialization.
1 | Business Model Licensing
Licensing Evogene's AI Tech-Engines to a third party (currently, all Evogene subsidiaries)
Potential revenue stream
- License fees & R&D reimbursement
- Dividends to Evogene as a shareholder
- Significant one-time-payment upon an exit event*
Powered by:
*As long as Evogene remains a major shareholder
2 | Business Model Collaboration
Collaborations Driven by Evogene's AI Tech-Engines with Leading Life-Science Companies
Potential revenue stream
- Upfront payments
- R&D fees
- Milestone payments
- Royalties from sale of end-products
Powered by:
Licensing & Collaboration - Current Status
Agenda
About Evogene
Business Model
Summary
Annex I – Financial overview Annex II – Evogene subsidiaries
Mission
Improve food quality, sustainability and agricultural productivity through microbiome-based, ag-biological products
Ag-biologicals a rapidly growing market
The ag-biologicals market is expected to grow at a double digit CAGR over the next decade
Unique AI tech-platform and data assets
Proprietary tech platform increases probability of success and reduces cost and time-to-market
Powered by
Broad & diverse pipeline
8 programs – new product launch expected every 1-2 years
Strategic partners & investors
2 revenuegenerating graduated programs
Evogene's
Subsidiary Yalos™ - Bio-inoculant for cereal grains*
Sold in USA** & expanding globally
Superior performance
* Yalos™ has regulatory approval in the US & Canada for all small grains including wheat, barley, durum, oats, soybeans, canola, and others. Data was gathered in large side-by-side field trials in the US ** In 2023 Yalos™ was sold for wheat. 2023 trials for barley and durum look promising for potential 2024 expansion
MicroBoost AI tech-engine directing & accelerating product discovery & optimization
Increase probability of success
Reduce time and cost
LAV311 - Bio-pesticide for Fruit rots & Powdery mildew
Licensing agreement with
- \$5M upfront payment
- Future milestone payments
- Royalties from future sales
Superior performance
compared to competing biological control products, similar results to chemicals
Consistent performance
in preventative application over 3 years (validated by Corteva)
Chemical Untreated
Integrated spray programs showed a potential reduction of 3-5 chemical applications* per season
* Program consisted of alternating applications between a chemical and LAV311 across the season
MicroBoost AI tech-engine directing & accelerating product discovery & optimization
Increase probability of success
Reduce time and cost
Mission Provide elite castor seeds to the bio-based industries
Castor oil emerging market
The global castor oil & oil derivatives market is expected to reach \$2.06 billion by 2028* CAGR of 4.9%
Unique tech platform for elite varieties
Combining deep scientific know-how, genomic and phenotypic big-data, and computational technology for elite castor variety development
Powered by
Holistic ag-solution
Proprietary holistic agsolution: elite varieties, growth protocols, and novel mechanical harvesting and dehulling machines
Strategic alliance
A strategic alliance in the biofuel space with a leading global oil and gas company
3 Commercial revenue generating castor varieties
Proprietary varieties with improved traits suitable for commercial scale cultivation
EVF716, EVF712, EVF701
\*https://www.marketreportsworld.com/global-castor-oil-and-derivatives-market-19862171
EVF716, EVF712, EVF701 Elite Castor Varieties
| Average plant helght (cm) | 70-120cm |
|---|---|
| Flowering (days from sowing) | 35-40 days |
| Total cycle (harvest) (days from sowing) | 100-115 days |
| Receme size | Small |
| Number of Receme | 4-5 racemes |
| Stern color | Dark red |
| Drought tolerance | LOW |
| Oll content (X) | 48-50% |
| Grain yield posential (t/Ha) | 2-3 t/Ha |
| cultivation® | |
|---|---|
| Recommended herbicide | Pendimethallin |
| Hand weeding | Proceed when necessary |
| Fertillzers and liming | Follow local recommendation |
| Manual or mechanized harvesting | Fantini headers |
| Planting system | Pneumatic seeders |
|---|---|
| Spacing (continuous grooves) | 0.75-1m among furrows |
| Plants / Hectare (Density) | 38-42K |
| Seed consumption | 13-15 kg/ha |
| Seeding depth | -5cm |
| teristics® | Technical Recommendations® | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 100-150 cm | Planting time | Early - mid rainy season |
| wing) | 40-45 days | Planting system | Pneumatic seeders |
| (Dullangs Lugh St | 120-140 days | Spacing (continuous grooves) | 0.75-1 m among furrows |
| Medium | Plants / Hectare (Density) | 35-40k | |
| 3-4 racemes | Seed consumption | 10-14 kg/Ha | |
| Ught green | Seeding depth | ~5cm | |
| Medium | "Varioty characteristics and highly subjechad to temporations, sun radiation and was availability |
||
| 48-50% | |||
| (a) | 2-3 t/Ha | ||
| e | Pendimethalyn Proceed when necessary Follow local recommendation |
||
| arvesting Fantini headers | |||
| by subjacted to temporature, ofly or Varieties PEVF716 |
|||
| 03.FF | Info@casterra. |
| Average plant height (cm) | 120-170 cm | Planting time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flowering (days from sowing) | 40-45 days | Planting system | |
| Total cycle (harvest) (days from sowing) | 125-145 days | Spacing (continuous g | |
| Receme size | Large | Plants / Hectate (Dens | |
| Number of Receme | 1-3 racemes | Seed consumption | |
| Stem color | Light red. | Seeding depth | |
| Drought tolerance | High | *Varioty characteristics are h cut radiation and was per and |
|
| Oll content (X) | 48-50% | ||
| 2-3 1/43 | |||
| Cultivation® | |||
| Pendimethalin | |||
| Proceed when necessary | |||
| Follow local recommendation | |||
| sun radiation and was r availability | |||
| Grain yield potential (t/Ha) "Variony characearisxics and highly subjocted to temporature, sun radiation and was noiselber rus Recommended herbicide Hand weeding Fertillzers and liming Manual or mechanized harvesting Fantini headers "Variouy characseristics and highly subjected to temperatura, Explore all Castor Varieties |
Evogene's
Subsidiary Castor Seed Sales
\$2.2 Million
\$9.1 Million
GeneRator AI tech engine directing & accelerating product discovery & optimization
Increase probability of success
Reduce time and cost
* Representing 40,000 (200*200) line potential for breeding
Agenda
About Evogene
Business Model
Success Stories
Summary
Annex I – Financial overview Annex II – Evogene subsidiaries
The Evogene Group
142 Employees
As of Nov 13, 2023
Our vision
Revolutionize the development of life-science based products, utilizing cutting edge computational biology technologies
Our unique offering - 3 AI Tech-Engines to direct & accelerate product discovery and optimization:
- MicroBoost AI
- ChemPass AI
- GeneRator AI
Tech engine value proposition
- Increase probability of success
- Reduce time
- Reduce cost
Business strategy - Capture the value of our AI tech-engines through:
- Licensing to 3rd parities (mainly subsidiaries)
- Collaboration with world-leading partners
Current subsidiaries
- Biomica Human-microbiome based therapeutics
- Lavie Bio – Ag-biologicals
- AgPlenus – Ag-chemicals
- Canonic - Medical cannabis
- Casterra – Castor end-to-end solution
Commercial products developed utilizing Evogene's AI tech-engines (examples)
- 3 commercial castor elite varieties by Casterra
- 2 ag-biologicals by Lavie Bio
- Medical cannabis products by Canonic
Vote of confidence
Equity investment in the following subsidiary:
- Lavie Bio Corteva & ICL
- Biomica Shanghai Healthcare Capital
THANK YOU!
Annex I: Financial Overview
Key Financials: Balance Sheet
Key Points:
- Consolidated cash position: ~\$37 million as of 30.09.2023
- This Consolidated cash position does not include the \$2.5 million, which represents the second half of the upfront payment from the licensing agreement of Lavie Bio with Corteva and amount due to the purchase orders received by Casterra in the last few months.
- No bank debt
- Listed on TASE (2007) and NASDAQ (2016)
| Thousands of US \$ | 30.09.2023 | 31.12.2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Current Assets | 40,555 | 37,751 |
| Long-Term Assets | 17,191 | 18,375 |
| Total Assets | 57,746 | 56,126 |
| Current Liabilities | 6,484 | 5,625 |
| Long-Term Liabilities (inc. \$10m convertible SAFE at Lavie Bio) | 15,399 | 15,711 |
| Equity attributable to equity holders of the Company | 18,510 | 27,930 |
| Non-controlling interest | 17,353 | 6,860 |
| Total Liabilities & Shareholders Equity | 57,746 | 56,126 |
Annex II: Evogene Subsidiaries
Evogene Subsidiaries
| 76%* | 70%* | 98%* | 100%* | 100%* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microbiome-based Therapeutics |
Ag Biologicals | Ag Chemicals | Medical Cannabis | Castor Cultivation End-to-End Solution |
| Immuno-oncology • |
Bio-stimulants • |
High yield & consumer • Herbicides • |
Elite castor varieties • |
|
| GI- related disorders • |
Bio-pesticides • |
Fungicides • |
traits • Cultivation protocols • Therapeutic traits – • Harvesting and currently inflammation dehulling machinery & pain customized to Casterra's varieties |
|
| \$20M investment led by SHC (Apr. 2023) |
\$27M investment (Aug 2019)** \$10M SAFE investment (Aug 2022) |
• Insecticides |
*Evogene holdings
**Includes \$10M cash investment along with transfer of assets
Mission:
Discovery and development of novel therapies for microbiome-related human disorders using computational biology
Products & Pipeline
Immuno-oncology program
- Combination therapy for cancer with checkpoint inhibitors
- Phase 1 clinical stage
- Addressable market of \$309.7B (by 2030*)
GI related disorders
- Inflammatory Bowel Disorder (IBD) pre-clinical stage
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) pre-clinical stage
- Addressable market: IBD \$27B; IBS \$3.3B (by 2026**)
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
- Clostridium Difficile Infection (CDI) discovery stage
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) discovery stage
- Addressable market: CDI \$1.7B (***); MRSA \$1.3B (by 2026****)
Expected upcoming value drivers
Immuno-oncology
▪ Readout & completion of POC from first in-human study; Pre-IND meeting with FDA
IBD
▪ Clinical batch production of drug candidate for IBD as preparation for Phase 1 clinical trials in USA.
IBS
▪ Advancement of pre-clinical studies and nomination of bacterial consortium for clinical trial
\*https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/cancer-immunotherapy-market
*\*https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-inflammatory-bowel-disease-ibd-treatment-market?utm\_source=blog.goo.ne.jp&utm\_medium=referral&utm\_campaign=Vrushali\_7Aug\_hc\_InflammatoryBowelDiseaseTreatmentMarket\_pr&utm\_content=Content; https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/inflammatory-bowel-disease-ibd-treatment-market#:~:text=Report%20Overview,4.4%25%20from%202018%20to%202026, https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2019-07-23/ibs-treatment-market-size-worth-3-3-billion-by-2026-cagr-10-1-grand-view-research-inc
Example Results:
Immuno-Oncology program – BMC128 potentiate the effect of anti-PD-1 therapy (immunotherapy) in-vivo
Improved antitumor activity in mice following the administration of BMC128, compared to treatment with immunotherapy alone
Mission:
Improve food quality, sustainability & agriculture productivity through microbiome based ag-biologicals technology & products
Products & Pipeline (examples)
Bio-stimulants
| 1885= | t |
|---|---|
- Yalos™ primarily spring wheat: commercial stage; addressable USA & Canada markets ~25M acres*
- Bio-stimulants #2 primarily soy: pre-development stage; addressable market ~90M acres*
Bio-pesticides
- Fruit rots primarily grapes: pre-commercial; addressable market >\$1B**
- Downy Mildew fruits and vegetables; development stage 1; addressable market >\$500M**
- Seedling disease corn and soy: pre-development; addressable market >\$500M**
Expected upcoming value drivers
Bio-stimulants
▪ Yalos™ – distribution licensing agreements and sales expansion in USA & Canada. Expansion to additional crops and an additional territory in 2025
Bio-pesticides:
- US regulatory approval for bio-fungicide candidate for fruit rots (LAV311) expected by 2024
- Submission for Lavie Bio's bio-fungicide candidate for downy mildew (LAV321) to the US EPA for regulatory approval – expected by 2025
- Co-development and licensing agreement for an additional bio-pesticide program with a large multinational company – expected by 2025
\*https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home; https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts\_and\_Maps/Crops\_County/;https://data.oecd.org/agroutput/crop-production.htm **Company estimation
Example Results:
- Yalos™ inoculant for spring wheat
- - LAV 311 bio-fungicide candidates for fruit rot
Lavie Bio's wheat field in the USA during harvest –
Sales initiated in 2022
Example of treatment against Botrytis Cinerea vs untreated control in vines
- License for LAV 311 & LAV 312 bio-fungicide candidates
- \$5M initial payment
- Additional future milestone payments & royalties
Mission:
Design next-generation, effective, and sustainable crop protection products by leveraging predictive chemistry and biology
Products & Pipeline
Herbicides
- Novel Mode-of-Action selective herbicide
- Herbicides addressable market \$48.9B (2027)*
Fungicides
- Novel Mode-of-Action wheat blotch fungicide
- Fungicides addressable market \$25.81B**
Insecticides
- Novel Site-of-Action resistance breaking piercing/sucking insecticide
- Insecticides addressable market \$22B (2030)***
*** https://straitsresearch.com/report/insecticides-market
Expected upcoming value drivers
Herbicides
- Milestone achievement of the ongoing collaboration with Corteva
- Engage in a new additional strategic collaboration
Fungicides
- Nominate new Mode-of-Action protein targets
- Initial greenhouse readouts of designed compounds on the defined fungi targets
Platform
- Verification of computational tool for selection of novel Mode-of-Action protein targets
- POC for the computational tool for novel molecule design
\* https://www.statista.com/statistics/1350387/herbicides-market-size-globally/
** https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/fungicides-market-103267
Powered by
Example Results:
New MoA Herbicide – APH1
Field test of APH1 against a panel of grass and broadleaf weeds – untreated control vs APH1
Greenhouse testing of APH1 – Conferring resistance by modifying tobacco
| Biobased Materials Powered by
Mission:
Leading the castor oil market with an integrated solution for industrialized cultivation of castor in support of the biobased materials industry
Product & Pipeline
Elite castor seed varieties
- 'EVF' series castor seed suitable for various environmental and climatic conditions
- Estimated addressable castor oil market \$1.21B (2021) and is expected to expand at CAGR of 5.8% from 2022 to 2030*
- Main target markets:
- Bio-polymers – driven by the need for quality and consistent inputs
- Bio-fuel – driven by environmental & regulatory trends in EU
Agro-technical support
▪ Cultivation protocols to maximize the results of the elite seeds
Dedicated machinery
- Best-in-class harvesting header, developed with Fantini Srl., Italy
- Casterra proprietary patented dehulling machine
*https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/castor-oil-derivatives-industry
Expected upcoming value drivers
Seeds development
- Production extending production outreach in the target markets: Africa (Zambia & Kenya), Latin America (Brazil) with few hundred tons a year as of 2024
- R&D development of new seed traits matching industry needs (e.g., Ricin free, low viscosity) using advanced technologies: CRISPR, genetic markers
Territorial expansion
- Africa engaging with bio-fuel strategic industry leaders to increase our sales and sector footprint
- Latin America addressing the bio-polymer industry's interest in broad, consistent and high-quality castor oil supply in Latin America
Strategic alliance
▪ A strategic alliance with a leading global biofuel company, leveraging Casterra's holistic industrial solution
| Biobased Materials Powered by
High Yield & Oil Castor Seeds
Elite castor seed varieties – The 'EVF' series
Dedicated machinery
Castor growth protocol Mechanical Harvest Proprietary dehulling machine
