Evogene to Present the Potential of Integrating Novel Genome Editing Technology with its Core Capabilities for Improved Seed Traits at Plant Genomics Congress

REHOVOT, Israel, May 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Evogene Ltd. (NYSE:EVGN) (TASE:EVGN), a leading company for the improvement of crop productivity and economics for food, feed and fuel, announced today that it will present the potential of integrating genome editing revolutionary technology with the company’s core capabilities and assets for improving seed traits, and its potential effect on the expansion of Evogene’s business offering, in the upcoming 4^th Plant Genomics Congress in London on May 9^th. The congress will present cutting edge Ag-genomic technologies in various areas and will include world-leading participants from the industry and academia.

Genome editing is gaining high traction in multiple areas of research and development in both pharma and agriculture as this molecular technological enabler allows the specific modification of essentially any nucleotide within a given genome, in a highly precise and targeted manner. By providing new venues for genomic manipulation within a crop of interest, genome editing brings significant opportunities for biotechnological crop trait improvement not available via previous technologies. This molecular technology may enable Evogene to leverage its core capabilities in both existing and new areas, and is expected to significantly broaden the applicability of the Company’s discovery and development infrastructure with respect to additional crops, traits, and geographies.

Two key requirements and significant challenges in the utilization of this powerful new genome-editing technology in ag-biology are the identification of the specific area in the crop genome to be modified and the discovery of the specific modifications to that area that are predicted to lead to the desired trait improvement. The complexity of the challenge lies in targeting and selecting specific nucleotides from the billions of nucleotides forming the crop’s genome. Evogene’s proprietary technological platform, developed for genomic discovery, is a natural fit to meet the challenge of ‘where and what to edit’. This is performed by utilizing proprietary assets and capabilities in functional genomics across species, gained through years of Company investment, development and computational driven learning.

Ofer Haviv, Evogene’s President and CEO, stated: “Evogene’s significant gene discovery capabilities for seed improvement have been leveraged to date mostly for transgenic applications. The maturation of the genome editing technology opens up an entirely new spectrum of business application opportunities for our technology. Combined with potentially “lighter” regulatory hurdles, products based on genome editing might benefit from shorter times to market, lower development costs and higher probability for success. We expect to position ourselves as a key player in the application of this new innovative technology for improving crop productivity, further expanding our Company’s value proposition.”

About Evogene Ltd.:
Evogene (NYSE:EVGN) (TASE:EVGN) is a leading biotechnology Company for the improvement of crop productivity. The Company has developed a proprietary innovative technology platform, leveraging scientific understanding & computational technologies to harness Ag ‘Big Data’ for developing improved seed traits (via: GM and non-GM approaches), as well as innovative ag-chemical and novel ag-biological products. Evogene has strategic collaborations with world-leading agricultural companies like: BASF, Bayer, DuPont, Monsanto and Syngenta, focusing on innovative crop enhancement and crop protection solutions. For more information, please visit www.evogene.com.

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” relating to future events. These statements may be identified by words such as “may”, “expects”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “believes”, “scheduled”, “estimates” or words of similar meaning. 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 may differ materially from what is expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, many of which beyond Evogene’s control, including, without limitation, those risk factors contained in Evogene’s reports filed with the appropriate securities authority. Evogene disclaims 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: Evogene
Eyal Leibovitz
CFO
Israel
IR@evogene.com
972-8-931-1900
IR advisory- PCG
Vivian Cervantes
Investor Relations
USA
vivian@pcgadvisory.com
212-554-5482