Evogene and Compugen Break News

Evogene and Compugen have both made headlines today. The two companies are related – Evogen was spun off of Compugen six years ago as an independent startup. Evogen will receive NIS 7.2 million from venture capital fund AquAgro. The ag-biotech startup develops improved plants for the agricultural and biofuel industries through plant genomics. A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the Evogene partnership with Rehovot-based CBD Technologies to collaborate on the improvement of cotton fiber properties.

Compugen announced yesterday its discovery of a blood-based biomarker for the diagnosis of lung cancer. The dual-listed firm (Nasdaq:CGEN) is involved in the identification and licensing of molecular level biomarkers and processes using computational biology tools. The discoveries are used in therapeutic and diagnostic products, for which it receives royalties.

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Evogene and CBD Partner on Cotton Technology

Evogene is an Israeli startup founded in 2002 that aims to generate improved crops and new agricultural biotechnology products in an economically efficient way.  Initially a division of Compugen, Evogene has just signed a partnership with Rehovot-based CBD Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of FuturaGene, to collaborate on the improvement of cotton fiber properties.

Under the agreement, CBD Tech “gains rights in cotton to certain promoters (genetic elements which activate gene expression) discovered by Evogene” for evaluation in CBD Tech’s R&D program. The promoters were discovered using Evogene’s ATHLETE, an in-silico gene discovery platform. 

Evogene explained, “Improving cotton fiber properties is of major interest to the cotton industry. High quality cotton fibers are essential for better yarn performances and optimal utilization through modern spinning technologies, hence produce higher value per pound for the farmer.”