The studies will focus on inflammatory indications at Prof. Reuven Or’s laboratory
Rehovot, Israel – January 27, 2020 – Canonic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Evogene Ltd. (NASDAQ, TASE: EVGN) focused on the development of medical Cannabis products, announces today an agreement with Hadasit, Hadassah Medical Center Technology Transfer Company, for pre-clinical studies to support the development of anti-inflammatory medical Cannabis products as part of its Precise product program. The work will be conducted by the laboratory of Prof. Reuven Or in Hadassah Medical Center (Ein Kerem, Israel), screening Canonic’s Cannabis core collection in inflammatory in-vitro models. These studies are expected to support the development of Canonic’s unique Cannabis varieties with anti-inflammatory properties.
As previously announced[1], Canonic initiated its product programs based on a genetically diverse Cannabis seed core collection. Extracts from these Cannabis lines cultivated by the company will be applied to inflammatory cells in pre-clinical studies. The data obtained from these studies will be leveraged by Evogene’s CPB platform to direct and support Canonic in the development of its Precise product line, focusing on specific medical indications including inflammation and pain management.
Prof. Reuven Or and Dr. Osnat Almogi-Hazan said: “We established a research center at Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital for immunobiology and cancer immunotherapy. In the last 5 years as a part of our research we investigated the reciprocal relationship between cannabinoids and immunity using a variety of pre-clinical models. It is our privilege to undertake the testing of Canonic’s unique Cannabis collection on immune cell function. We strongly believe that only pre-clinical investigation of Cannabis chemotypes will allow the successful incorporation of disease-specific Cannabis treatments into the clinic.”
Dr. Tamar Raz, Hadasit’s CEO said: “Hadasit is happy to facilitate the agreement with Canonic to use the scientific and clinical expertise of Prof. Or’s team in medical Cannabis to test the anti-inflammatory activity of the company’s Cannabis lines. We are hopeful that the research results would pave the way to an additional collaboration with Canonic in the near future.”
Dr. Arnon Heyman, Canonic’s CEO stated: “We are proud to begin working with Prof. Or and his team. The data we will obtain from these studies is a significant step forward in the development of our medical cannabis products. This data is expected to be integrated into our computational platform during this year, directing the development of our unique Cannabis varieties in its Precise product line. Looking forward, we believe this agreement will be the beginning of an ongoing relationship with Hadassah and will facilitate additional activities in the future”.
About Canonic
Canonic is a subsidiary of Evogene Ltd. (NASDAQ, TASE: EVGN), developing medical Cannabis products through a Computational Predictive Biology (CPB) platform. The company’s products in development are aimed at improving active compounds yield, genetic stability and Cannabis varieties for specific medical indications. The company’s strategy includes the development of Cannabis varieties in order to commercialize medical Cannabis products independently or through collaborations. Canonic has exclusive access to Evogene’s genomic assets and technology for the development of medical Cannabis products. For more information, please visit: https://www.canonicbio.com/.
About Evogene Ltd.
Evogene Ltd. (NASDAQ, TASE: EVGN) is a leading biotechnology company developing novel products for major life science markets through the use of a unique computational predictive biology (CPB) platform incorporating deep scientific understandings and advanced computational technologies. Today, this platform is utilized by Evogene to discover and develop innovative products in the main following areas (via subsidiaries or divisions): ag-chemicals, ag-biologicals, seed traits, human microbiome based therapeutics and medical Cannabis. Each subsidiary or division establishes its product pipeline and go-to-market, as demonstrated in their collaborations with world-leading companies such as BASF, Bayer, Corteva, and ICL. For more information, please visit www.evogene.com.
About Evogene’s Computational Predictive Biology (CPB) Platform
Evogene’s CPB platform has been designed for the in silico (computational) prediction and prioritization of genes, proteins, microbes and small molecules based on multiple attributes that will be key to successful development and commercialization of novel life-science based products. Successfully addressing these multiple product attributes at the beginning of the discovery process, rather than one at a time during the development phase, is expected to reduce the time and cost of a program, but much more importantly, increase the probability of reaching a successful outcome. Furthermore, the CPB capabilities are also directed to optimization of products and product candidates, based on computational and experimental results.
About Hadasit
Hadasit is the technology transfer company of Hadassah Medical Centers in Jerusalem. Hadasit transforms the cutting-edge research coming out of Hadassah into marketable medical technologies. In addition, Hadasit is a leading fee-for-service provider that offers a large range of R&D services for the healthcare industry. For more information, please visit https://www.hadasit.org.il/rd-services/
Cautionary Statement About 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”, “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 and Canonic 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 or Canonic’s control, including, without limitation, those risk factors contained in Evogene’s reports filed with the appropriate securities authority. Evogene and Canonic 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.
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Contact:
Rivka Neufeld
Investor Relation and Public Relations Manager
E: IR@evogene.com
T: +972-8-931-1940
US Investor Relations:
Joseph Green
Edison Group
E: jgreen@edisongroup.com
T: +1 646-653-7030
Laine Yonker
Edison Group
T: +1 646-653-7035
[1] http://evogene.com/press_release/canonic-announces-initiation-of-cultivation-and-breeding-of-cannabis-varieties-with-unique-genomic-profiles-for-the-development-of-medical-cannabis-products/