The collaboration has the power to foster breakthroughs in
small molecule innovation for life science-based products
REHOVOT, Israel, Oct. 31,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Evogene Ltd. (NASDAQ:
EVGN) (TASE: EVGN), a leading computational biology company aiming
to revolutionize life-science-based product discovery and
development, today announced a collaboration with Google Cloud to
develop a cutting-edge foundation model for generative small
molecule de novo design, propelling Evogene's ChemPass AI
tech-engine to new levels of innovation. ChemPass AI is a
computational technology platform that directs and accelerates the
discovery and development of novel products based on small
molecules. This groundbreaking initiative seeks to advance the
discovery and development of novel small molecules for drug
development, sustainable crop protection, and other innovative
products across a wide range of life-science industries.
Evogene will leverage Google Cloud's Vertex AI, GPUs on Google
Compute Engine, and Google Cloud Storage to provide the
immense computational power and storage capacity required to create
this innovative AI foundation model. This foundation model is being
trained on a dataset of ~40 billion molecular structures and will
serve as a powerful tool for generating and evaluating new
potential candidates for breakthrough life science-based products,
with unprecedented speed and accuracy.
The collaboration leverages Evogene's deep expertise in
computational predictive biology and Google Cloud's leadership in
AI and machine learning. This joint effort follows the successful
integration of ChemPass AI into Google Cloud and will now
focus on expanding the tech-engine's value through the creation of
a state-of-the-art foundation model capable of generating and
optimizing novel small molecule structures with desired
properties.
This transformative technology has the potential to greatly
expedite the drug discovery process, reduce costs, and increase the
success rate of identifying promising drug candidates. In the
agricultural sector, the foundation model will enable the
development of innovative and sustainable solutions to address
global challenges such as food security, crop protection, and
resource optimization.
Beyond pharmaceuticals and agriculture, the foundation model's
capabilities have the potential to extend to various other
industries. The ability to generate and optimize small molecules
with specific properties opens a world of possibilities for
creating innovative and sustainable solutions across diverse
sectors.
Ofer Haviv, Evogene's President
and CEO stated: "This strategic collaboration underscores Evogene's
commitment to innovation and its position at the forefront of
computational predictive biology, utilizing our AI tech-engines. We
are proud to be collaborating with Google Cloud, a recognized
leader in cloud computing, accelerating our growth trajectory and
delivering significant value to our shareholders and partners."
Boaz Maoz, Managing Director,
Google Cloud Israel stated: "Google Cloud is committed to providing
the industry's most open cloud and helping customers accelerate
their digital transformations. By harnessing the power of Google
Cloud, Evogene's ChemPass AI has the potential to revolutionize
small molecule design. We look forward to the breakthroughs Evogene
will achieve."
The collaboration also presents an attractive opportunity for
potential pharma and ag-industry partners seeking to leverage the
power of ChemPass AI's generative small molecule discovery
capabilities. Evogene's proven track record in computational
biology, combined with Google Cloud's AI expertise, creates a
compelling proposition for companies looking to accelerate their
R&D efforts and gain a competitive edge.
About Evogene Ltd.
Evogene Ltd. (Nasdaq: EVGN) (TASE: EVGN) is a computational
biology company leveraging big data and artificial intelligence,
aiming to revolutionize the development of life-science based
products by utilizing cutting-edge technologies to increase the
probability of success while reducing development time and
cost.
Evogene established three unique tech-engines - MicroBoost
AI, ChemPass AI and GeneRator AI. Each tech-engine
is focused on the discovery and development of products based on
one of the following core components: microbes (MicroBoost
AI), small molecules (ChemPass AI), and genetic elements
(GeneRator AI).
Evogene uses its tech-engines to develop products through
strategic partnerships and collaborations, and its four
subsidiaries including:
- Biomica Ltd. (www.biomicamed.com) developing and advancing
novel microbiome-based therapeutics to treat human disorders
powered by MicroBoost AI;
- Lavie Bio Ltd. (www.lavie-bio.com) - developing and
commercially advancing, microbiome based ag-biologicals powered by
MicroBoost AI;
- AgPlenus Ltd. (www.agplenus.com) -developing next generation ag
chemicals for effective and sustainable crop protection powered by
ChemPass AI; and
- Casterra Ag Ltd. (www.casterra.co)– developing and marketing
superior castor seed varieties producing high yield and high-grade
oil content, on an industrial scale for the biofuel and other
industries powered by GeneRator AI.
For more information, please visit:
www.evogene.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release 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
press release when it discusses the potential of the collaboration
to drive forward the discovery and development of novel small
molecules for drug development, sustainable crop protection, and
other innovative products across various life-science industries,
the foundation model's ability to generate and evaluate new
potential candidates for breakthrough life science based products,
with unprecedented speed and accuracy, the ability to create a
state-of-the-art foundation model capable of generating and
optimizing novel small molecule structures with desired properties,
the technology's potential to significantly expedite the drug
discovery process, reduce costs, and increase the success rate of
identifying promising drug candidates, its ability to enable the
development of innovative and sustainable solutions to address
global challenges such as food security, crop protection, and
resource optimization. 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 border of
Israel and those risk factors
contained in Evogene's reports filed with the applicable securities
authority. 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 pre-clinical 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.
Contact:
ir@evogene.com
Tel: +972-8-9311901
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SOURCE Evogene