Evogene Releases CEO Letter to Shareholders
Rhea-AI Summary
Evogene (Nasdaq: EVGN) outlined a 2025 strategic transformation to focus on its proprietary ChemPass AI™ engine and two markets: human health and agriculture. The company divested non-core assets, resized the organization, and said ChemPass AI™ leverages a 38‑billion‑molecule foundation model and partnerships including Google Cloud, Bayer, and Corteva.
Evogene reported partnered drug discovery progress, four disclosed collaborations, AgPlenus agricultural programs, and completed divestments of Lavie Bio and a license of Biomica's BMC128.
Positive
- ChemPass AI built on a 38‑billion‑molecule universe
- Strategic partnerships with Google Cloud, Bayer, Corteva
- Divested non‑core units: Lavie Bio sale and BMC128 licensed to Lishan
Negative
- Refocused strategy concentrates operations on two markets, increasing concentration risk
- Company resized the organization, implying potential workforce and capacity reductions
News Market Reaction – EVGN
On the day this news was published, EVGN gained 4.58%, reflecting a moderate positive market reaction. This price movement added approximately $344K to the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $8M at that time.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
EVGN is up 3.32% while biotech peers show mixed moves: ERNA in momentum data is up 1.67%, BRTX is down 2.45%, and other sector peers like KZIA, MBIO, and MBRX are positive. This points more to company-specific trading than a unified sector rotation.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19 | Earnings call scheduled | Neutral | -8.5% | Announcement of timing for Q4 and full-year 2025 financial results release. |
| Feb 17 | AI cancer collaboration | Positive | +1.7% | Collaboration with QUT to apply ChemPass AI™ to cisplatin‑resistant NSCLC. |
| Feb 11 | Inflammation partnership | Positive | +1.0% | Multi-party program to develop therapies for neutrophil-driven inflammatory diseases. |
| Feb 10 | Warrant inducement financing | Negative | -7.3% | Warrant inducement raising about $3.4M via discounted exercise and new warrants. |
| Feb 10 | Google Cloud expansion | Positive | -7.3% | Expanded Google Cloud collaboration to integrate AI agents into ChemPass AI™. |
Recent news shows mostly positive or strategic announcements with three aligned price reactions and one notable divergence on a positive Google Cloud collaboration.
Over the past months, Evogene has highlighted AI-driven partnerships and financing steps. On Feb 10, 2026, it expanded its Google Cloud collaboration for ChemPass AI™, yet the stock fell 7.34%, a divergence from positive news. A warrant inducement on the same day raised about $3.4 million and also coincided with a 7.34% drop. Later collaborations with academic and clinical partners on Feb 11 and Feb 17 saw modest gains. An earnings scheduling notice on Feb 19 preceded an 8.5% decline, underscoring sensitivity around capital and results.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement outlines Evogene’s 2025 strategic refocus around its ChemPass AI™ platform, concentrating on human health and agriculture while divesting non-core subsidiaries. It emphasizes a 38 billion-molecule universe, four disclosed collaborations, and capital-efficient partnering. In context of recent AI-driven partnerships and a warrant inducement financing, investors may watch for future collaboration scale-up, progress from partner-led programs, and upcoming earnings on Mar 5, 2026 to assess execution against this roadmap.
Key Terms
computational chemistry technical
generative ai technical
small molecules medical
fungicides medical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
Updating on Strategic Progress and Outlook
REHOVOT,
Dear Evogene Shareholders,
I am writing to update you on the significant progress Evogene has made over the past year and to outline the strategic transformation we initiated in 2025 to position the company for long-term value creation.
During 2025, following a comprehensive review of our technology, markets, and capital allocation, we made a deliberate choice to sharpen our focus and execution. This transformation was guided by a clear objective: to direct Evogene's resources where we believe we can create the greatest sustainable value.
We implemented two core strategic decisions. First, we focused our technology development on a single computational engine, ChemPass AI™, our proprietary platform for the discovery and optimization of small molecules. Second, we streamlined our business activities to concentrate exclusively on two high-impact markets where ChemPass AI™ offers strong differentiation: human health, centered on small-molecule therapeutics, and agriculture, focused on novel ag-chemicals.
These decisions led to determined actions across the company. We dedicated our computational capabilities to ChemPass AI™, discontinued non-core activities, divested misaligned assets, resized the organization, and established a business development team aligned with our refined strategy. As a result, Evogene today operates as a more focused, agile, and capital-efficient organization.
ChemPass AI™ is designed to generate novel, highly active molecules while meeting the complex parameters required to meaningfully increase the probability of downstream development success. This differentiation is supported by proprietary technological advancements developed by our internal team, guided by world-class scientific advisors, and reinforced through strategic collaborations with leading technology companies, including Google Cloud, with whom we are currently engaged in our second collaboration.
ChemPass AI™'s competitive advantage lies in the powerful combination of two capabilities: generating novel molecules based on vast chemical territories and ensuring they meet rigorous multi-parameter requirements from day one. We don't just design novel chemistry - we generate novel chemistry that performs.
Our platform goes far beyond the chemical space the industry traditionally explores. Based on a 38-billion-molecule universe, ChemPass AI™'s foundation model navigates vast, diverse chemical domains that others simply cannot access. This enables us to design truly original molecular structures with strong biological potential and highly defensible intellectual property - opening the door to breakthrough products and new IP landscapes.
At the same time, precision is built into every molecule we create. Our AI engine simultaneously optimizes a wide range of critical chemical, biological, and physical parameters, tailoring each compound to the exact constraints and success criteria of the specific target product. The result is not just innovation, but synthesizable, active molecules engineered from the outset to meet real development requirements, dramatically increasing the probability of real-world commercial success.
Our business model is intentionally flexible and capital-efficient, spanning target-driven collaborations as well as internally initiated programs that are partnered at more advanced stages. In human health, our near-term focus is on partner-led programs, while in agriculture we operate across the full range of collaboration models.
In human health, we are advancing multiple partnered drug discovery programs with biotechnology companies and academic institutions. Throughout 2025 and early 2026, ChemPass AI™ discovered development-candidate predictions that have progressed into testing with our partners. To date, we have publicly disclosed four such collaborations, and we expect this activity to be scaled as additional collaborations are initiated.
In agriculture, our subsidiary AgPlenus continues to apply ChemPass AI™ to the development of novel herbicides and fungicides. The maturity and robustness of the platform are reflected through our strategic collaborations with Bayer and Corteva, alongside a differentiated internal pipeline. We expect continued growth through the expansion of these collaborations and the formation of new strategic partnerships.
We have also substantially completed the divestment of non-core subsidiaries. Lavie Bio's activity was acquired by ICL, and Biomica's lead oncology candidate, BMC128, was licensed to Lishan Pharmaceuticals. At the same time, we retain selective exposure to assets with meaningful value potential, including Casterra.
With a well-differentiated technology engine, disciplined capital allocation, and strong strategic partnerships, we believe Evogene is now positioned on a clear, more focused path toward sustainable value creation.
Thank you for your continued trust and support.
Sincerely,
Ofer Haviv
President and CEO
About Evogene Ltd.
Evogene Ltd. (Nasdaq: EVGN) (TASE: EVGN) is a pioneering company in computational chemistry, specializing in the generative design of small molecules for the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries.
At the core of its technology is ChemPass AI™, a proprietary generative AI engine that enables the design of novel, highly potent small molecules optimized across multiple critical parameters. This powerful platform significantly improves success rates while reducing development time and costs.
Built on this powerful technological foundation, and through strategic partnerships alongside internal product development, Evogene is focused on creating breakthrough products driven by the integration of scientific innovation with real-world industry needs. We call this approach "Real-World Innovation".
Learn more at: www.evogene.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding 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 use forward-looking statements in this press release when they discuss: ChemPass AI™'s competitive advantages, Evogene's focused, agile, and capital-efficient organization, and Casterra's meaningful value potential. 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 aftermath of the recent war between
Contact
ir@evogene.com
Tel: +972-8-9311901
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SOURCE Evogene
FAQ
What strategic changes did Evogene (EVGN) announce on February 25, 2026?
How large is ChemPass AI™'s chemical universe as described by Evogene (EVGN)?
Which major partnerships did Evogene (EVGN) highlight in the February 25, 2026 letter?
What progress did Evogene (EVGN) report in drug discovery programs through ChemPass AI™?
What divestments did Evogene (EVGN) complete and what do they mean for focus?
