Casterra Announces Additional Agreements with Seed Producers to Meet Existing & Growing Demand for its Elite Castor Seeds

Press Releases

May 21, 2024

These agreements are expected to support the production of approximately 500 tons of additional seeds, enabling the completion of standing orders by the end of 2024 and positioning Casterra to fulfill future orders.

REHOVOT, Israel, May 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Casterra Ag Ltd., an integrated solutions company for growing castor for bio-based industrial applications, such as biofuels & biopolymers and a subsidiary of Evogene Ltd. (Nasdaq: EVGN) (TASE: EVGN), announced it has recently signed new agreements with both existing and new seed producers in Africa. These agreements are anticipated to bolster Casterra’s seed supply capabilities with an addition of approximately 500 tons of high-yielding, high-oil castor seeds. This new addition, together with previous agreements of approximately 400 tons of seeds announced in February this year, is expected to enable Casterra to fulfill the orders received in 2023 by the end of 2024. In addition, this new production will position the company to provide additional supplies for future orders.

Elite high-yielding, high-oil castor seeds are essential for castor cultivation, supporting the economic efficiency of oil production as a source of sustainable biofuel. Casterra’s elite castor varieties are continuously developed to meet and surpass the industry standards, utilizing Evogene’s ‘GeneRator AI’ tech engine.

Mr. Yoash Zohar, CEO of Casterra, said: “Expanding our partnerships with existing and additional seed producers strengthens production capabilities, marks a proactive commitment to meet the dynamic needs of customers and markets worldwide and also mitigates potential production risks. Casterra is committed to establishing a reliable seed production infrastructure and is strengthening its position as a leading company offering a comprehensive solution for the commercial cultivation of castor plants for the biofuel industry.”

About Casterra Ag Ltd.:

Casterra is an integrated solutions company for growing castor for bio-based industrial applications, such as biofuels & biopolymers. It has built its castor genetic assets based on a broad collection of over 300 castor lines from 40 different geographic and climatic regions. As part of its development process, Casterra applies advanced breeding methods utilizing Evogene’s GeneRator AI tech-engine, enabling cutting-edge plant genomics tools and agro-technique expertise to enable efficient and sustainable industrial-scale production of the castor bean.

For more information, please visit http://www.casterra.co

About Evogene Ltd.:

Evogene (Nasdaq: EVGN) (TASE: EVGN) is a computational biology company aiming to revolutionize the development of life-science-based products by utilizing cutting-edge technologies to increase the probability of success while reducing development time and cost. Evogene established three unique tech-engines – MicroBoost AI, ChemPass AI, and GeneRator AI – leveraging Big Data and Artificial Intelligence and incorporating deep multidisciplinary understanding in life sciences. Each tech-engine is focused on the discovery and development of products based on one of the following core components: microbes (MicroBoost AI), small molecules (ChemPass AI), and genetic elements (GeneRator AI).

Evogene uses its tech-engines to develop products through subsidiaries and strategic partnerships. Evogene’s subsidiaries currently utilize the tech-engines to develop human microbiome-based therapeutics by Biomica, ag-biologicals by Lavie Bio, ag-chemicals by AgPlenus, medical cannabis products by Canonic and castor varieties, for the biofuel and other industries, by Casterra.

For more information, please visit www.evogene.com

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”, “hopes” “intends”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “believes”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “demonstrates” or words of similar meaning. For example, Evogene and its subsidiaries are using forward-looking statement in this press release when it discusses Casterra’s ability to fulfill the orders received in 2023 by the end of 2024 and the effect of the new production agreements on Casterra’s ability to fulfill forthcoming orders. 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 its subsidiaries may differ materially from what is expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond the control of Evogene and its subsidiaries, including, without limitation, the current war between Israel and Hamas and any worsening of the situation in Israel such as further mobilizations or escalation in the northern border of Israel, and those risk factors contained in Evogene’s reports filed with the applicable securities authority. In addition, Evogene and its subsidiaries rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties to conduct certain activities, such as their field-trials and pre-clinical studies, and if these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, comply with regulatory requirements or meet expected deadlines, Evogene and its subsidiaries may experience significant delays in the conduct of their activities. Evogene and its subsidiaries disclaim any obligation or commitment to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or developments or changes in expectations, estimates, projections, and assumptions.

IR Contact
Rachel Pomerantz Gerber
Head of Investor Relations at Evogene
rachel.pomerantz@evogene.com
Tel: +972-8-9311901