Corteva, Hexagon Bio Form Multi-Million Dollar JV to Power Next-Generation of Nature Inspired Solutions

Key Terms

joint venture financial

A joint venture is when two or more companies team up to work on a specific project or business idea, sharing both the risks and the rewards. It’s like friends starting a lemonade stand together—each contributes resources and they split the profits, making it easier to succeed than going alone.

artificial intelligence technical

Artificial intelligence is the ability of computers and machines to perform tasks that typically require human thinking, such as understanding language, recognizing patterns, or making decisions. For investors, it matters because AI can enhance efficiency, uncover new insights, and enable smarter strategies, potentially impacting the value and performance of companies that develop or utilize this technology.

synthetic biology medical

Synthetic biology is the design and construction of new or modified living systems—like reprogramming cells or microbes—to perform useful tasks such as making materials, medicines, or fuels. For investors it signals a platform technology with potential for high growth and disruption, similar to how software transformed industries: early breakthroughs can create new markets, long-term revenue streams, and also carry technical, regulatory, and ethical risks that affect valuation and timing.

fungicides medical

Fungicides are chemical or biological products used to prevent or treat fungal infections in plants, acting like medicine for crops to stop rot, mildew or mold. They matter to investors because their use and regulation affect farm yields, input costs and sales for agricultural suppliers; shifts in demand, safety rules, product effectiveness or weather-driven disease outbreaks can quickly influence crop supply, commodity prices and company revenues.

insecticides medical

Products designed to kill or control insects that damage crops, stored goods, buildings or spread disease; think of them as targeted pest “medicines” for plants, homes, or infrastructure. Investors watch insecticides because demand, pricing and profitability hinge on crop health and pest outbreaks, while regulation, environmental concerns and resistance can create costly compliance, legal and reputational risks that materially affect a maker’s sales and valuation.

gene editing medical

Gene editing is a set of laboratory techniques that change the DNA inside living cells to add, remove, or alter specific genes, like using precise 'cut-and-paste' tools to edit an instruction manual for a living organism. It matters to investors because successful edits can produce new therapies, improve agricultural products, or create commercial advantages; progress, safety, regulatory approvals, and patent control all affect a company’s value and risk profile.

Landmark Agreement is First Ag-Pharma Collaboration for Both Companies

INDIANAPOLIS & MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Corteva (NYSE: CTVA), a global leader in agricultural technology, and Hexagon Bio, a biotechnology company pioneering a new way to discover nature-derived medicine, today announced a multi-million-dollar joint venture (JV) to accelerate the development of new crop protection solutions inspired by nature. The JV is the first in the agriculture sector for Hexagon Bio and the first in the pharmaceutical industry for Corteva.

The partnership brings together Corteva’s billion-dollar nature-inspired crop protection franchises and bacterial natural product discovery capabilities with Hexagon Bio’s natural-product discovery platform to advance the companies’ respective pipelines across agriculture and human health.

“Our partnership with Hexagon Bio expands our discovery engine, taking our crop protection innovation to the next level,” said Sam Eathington, Chief Technology and Digital Officer for Corteva. “As demand for nature-inspired solutions continues to grow, this collaboration allows us to move faster and think bigger to provide farmers with the latest options in effective and sustainable tools.”

Hexagon Bio’s platform combines microbial genetics, artificial intelligence, chemistry, and synthetic biology to identify and characterize novel natural products, uncovering diverse mechanisms not obvious from the chemical structure or conventional techniques and allowing for more efficient molecule discovery.

“This partnership allows us to pursue two critical missions simultaneously: developing transformative therapies for patients and delivering new modes of action for global agriculture,” said Maureen Hillenmeyer, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Hexagon Bio. “Our platform generates more high-value chemistry than a single development track can absorb, so we are excited to launch this JV for agriculture while continuing our focus on discovery of natural products for human health.”

The discovery and development of natural products continues to evolve, which makes products inspired by nature and improved by science an important and growing market. They have led to some of the world’s most impactful advancements in human, plant and animal health: from antibiotics like penicillin and the taxane class of cancer medicines, to fungicides and insecticides that protect staple food crops around the world against damaging pests and diseases.

The JV was formed through Corteva Catalyst, Corteva's investment and collaboration platform. Since its launch in March of 2024, Corteva Catalyst has partnered with 11 companies across its portfolio by investing in biologicals, gene editing and other technology platforms around the world.

About Corteva

Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) is a global pure-play agriculture company that combines industry-leading innovation, high-touch customer engagement and operational execution to profitably deliver solutions for the world’s most pressing agriculture challenges. Corteva generates advantaged market preference through its unique distribution strategy, together with its balanced and globally diverse mix of seed, crop protection, and digital products and services. With some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and a technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, the company is committed to maximizing productivity for farmers, while working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. More information can be found at www.corteva.com.

About Hexagon Bio

Hexagon Bio is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery of novel payloads for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) to address critical unmet needs in oncology. Leveraging a proprietary natural products platform, the company mines cytotoxic small molecules from microbial genomes for use as ADC payloads. Advances in DNA sequencing have enabled the identification of both existing ADC payloads—such as topoisomerase and tubulin inhibitors—and novel payload mechanisms targeting other essential cancer pathways such as protein translation. Hexagon Bio is advancing a pipeline of next-generation ADC candidates with novel payloads designed to treat a wide range of solid tumors and hematological malignancies, overcoming resistance to existing ADCs and improving efficacy across tumor types. Learn more at www.hexagonbio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251216095850/en/

Media Inquiries:

Corteva

Derek Burleson

Derek.Burleson@corteva.com

479-651-0275

Hexagon Bio

Terri Clevenger

TClevenger@waterhousebrands.com

203-984-5430

Source: Hexagon Bio