Ghent, Belguim, Copenhagen, Denmark – Biotalys (Euronext – BTLS), an Agricultural Technology (AgTech) company protecting crops and food with protein-based biocontrol solutions, and Novozymes, a world leader in biotech solutions, announced that the companies have entered into a partnership to expand opportunities for Evoca*, Biotalys’ first proprietary biocontrol.
The partnership provides that Novozymes will use its expertise, intellectual property rights and know-how to explore additional routes for the upscaling and production of the bioactive protein of Evoca, with the option of a possible commercial collaboration for a future generation of the product.
Evoca is an innovative protein-based biofungicide developed on Biotalys’ AGROBODY Foundry platform that helps control fungal diseases such as Botrytis and powdery mildew in fruits and vegetables. Demonstrating its strong performance via more than 600 independent and company-driven field and greenhouse trials across multiple regions, pathogens and crops, Evoca is expected to obtain approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) later this year. This is expected to pave the way for the regulatory assessment of Biotalys’ pipeline of product candidates, which includes biofungicides, biobactericides and bio-insecticides based on the Biotalys AGROBODY Foundry technology platform.
“We are excited to enter into this agreement with Novozymes, a global leader in biological solutions for the agricultural and other industries,” Patrice Sellès, CEO of Biotalys, said. “With its vast expertise in enzymes and protein fermentation technologies, Novozymes represents a strong partner to support the growth ambitions of Biotalys towards offering growers globally a cost efficient and effective future generation of Evoca.”
“We are pleased that we are able to add significant value to Biotalys’ technology through our world leading industrial fermentation expertise to help Biotalys deliver cost efficient products to provide growers new, sustainable solutions for controlling pests,” Thomas Batchelor, Vice President, Agriculture Marketing and Strategy of Novozymes, said. “We also see the Biotalys technology as potentially a good complement to our own pipeline of enzyme and microbial solutions as well as our existing commercial biocontrol portfolio.”
Feasibility Study
Under the agreement, Novozymes will explore during an initial term whether it can upscale and produce the bioactive protein of Evoca in production hosts additional to those currently used by Biotalys. Therefore, Novozymes will use its expertise, intellectual property and know-how and as such produce a future generation of Evoca that meets certain agreed success criteria. The outcome of this feasibility study can serve as a potential key milestone for Biotalys and Novozymes to enter into development, supply and commercialization agreements for this future generation of Evoca.
* Evoca: Pending Registration. This product is not currently registered for sale or use in the United States, the European Union, or elsewhere and is not being offered for sale.
