Rehovot and Gedera, Israel
September 3, 2007
Evogene Ltd. (TASE: EVGN) and
Zeraim Gedera Ltd,
which was recently acquired by Syngenta S.A., announced today
that their joint program for the development of salt tolerant
tomato varieties has successfully completed the first phase with
experimental varieties currently undergoing field trials in
target locations worldwide. Under a recently signed follow-on
agreement, the parties intend to further develop the
experimental varieties towards commercialization and develop
additional varieties for new target markets.
The use of massive irrigation practices and water sources of
high salinity levels in tomato growing areas have caused a
reduction in tomato yield and in severe cases the abandoning of
such areas. The tomato varieties developed through this
collaboration are expected to allow growers to maintain high
yields under severe growing conditions displaying high salt
concentrations of water and soil.
Zeraim Gedera's breeding program is based on its leading tomato
germplasm and utilizes Evogene's advanced selection tools. These
selection tools include proprietary selection assays and
molecular marker for salt tolerance, developed based on
Evogene's computational gene discovery platform.
"We are very pleased with the successful completion of the first
phase and Zeraim Gedera's choice to continue the joint
development." stated Ofer Haviv, Evogene's President and CEO "We
are very excited about the potential of the new tomato varieties
being developed based on Zaraim Gedera's world leading
varieties". Mr. Haviv concluded.
Ohad Zuckerman, CEO of Zeraim Gedera stated: "Zeraim Gedera
views this collaboration as a first step towards future
collaborations with Evogene for developing improved varieties
that will strengthen our competitive position in vegetables.
This is the first agreement we signed since the closing of
Syngenta's acquisition, and an initial step towards enhancing
our involvement in the Israeli R&D institutes and private
companies such as Evogene".
Evogene’s mission is to be a world leader in delivering
improved plant traits to the agro-biotechnology and biofuel
industries through the use of a continuously improving
proprietary platform combining state-of-the-art computational
genomics, molecular biology and advanced breeding methods.
Evogene’s current trait development portfolio includes: abiotic
stress tolerance and yield, enhancement of cotton fiber quality,
improving nitrogen use efficiency, increasing oil yield for the
biodiesel use and plant manufacturing of therapeutic proteins.
Evogene was founded in 2002 by the spin-off of the
agro-biotechnology division of Compugen Ltd. (Nasdaq: CGEN).
Evogene’s core in-silico technology, the ATHLETE, is based on
Compugen’s proprietary LEADS computational platform. Evogene
completed an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in June 2007.
For additional information, please visit Evogene’s website at
www.evogene.com
Zeraim Gedera is one of the world's leading companies in
vegetable varietal development. Since its establishment in 1952,
the Company is known for its expertise in breeding high quality
vegetable varieties, and in developing and marketing of its
vegetable seeds world-wide. The company was lately acquired by
Syngenta, a world-leading agribusiness, which purchased all of
the company's shares from Markstone Capital Partners, an Israeli
private equity group. Zeraim Gedera focuses on six vegetable
products: tomatoes, sweet peppers, watermelons, melons, squash
and cucumbers, and has longstanding research and breeding
relationships with leading research institutes and universities
in Israel and world-wide. As a result of massive investments in
R&D, outstanding breeding capabilities and a strong presence in
major markets world-wide, such as Spain, Turkey, Mexico, USA and
China, Zeraim Gedera has displayed rapid growth in the past few
years. For additional information, please visit Zeraim Gedera's
website at
www.zeraimgedera.com.
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