Biotalys and Novozymes Enter into Partnership to Expand Opportunities for Evoca™

Ghent, BELGIUM and Copenhagen, DENMARK , June 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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, today 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,” shared Patrice Sellès, the CEO of Biotalys. “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,” says Thomas Batchelor, Vice President, Agriculture Marketing and Strategy of Novozymes. “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.

About Biotalys

Biotalys is an Agricultural Technology (AgTech) company protecting crops and food with proprietary protein-based biocontrol solutions and aiming to provide alternatives to conventional chemical pesticides for a more sustainable and safer food supply. Based on its novel AGROBODY™ technology platform, Biotalys is developing a strong and diverse pipeline of effective product candidates with a favorable safety profile that aim to address key crop pests and diseases across the whole value chain, from soil to plate. Biotalys was founded in 2013 as a spin-off from the VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) and is listed on Euronext Brussels since July 2021. The company is based in the biotech cluster in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on www.biotalys.com.

For further information, please contact

Toon Musschoot, Head of IR & Communication
T: +32 (0)9 274 54 00
E: Toon.Musschoot@biotalys.com

About Novozymes

Novozymes is the world leader in biological solutions. Together with customers, partners, and the global community, we improve industrial performance while preserving the planet's resources and helping build better lives. As the world's largest provider of enzyme and microbial technologies, our bioinnovation enables higher agricultural yields, low-temperature washing, energy-efficient production, renewable fuel, and many other benefits that we rely on today and in the future. We call it Rethink Tomorrow. www.novozymes.com

NASDAQ OMX: NZYM-B • 6,500 employees • DKK 15 billion turnover • 30+ industries • 700+ products

Media Relations

Lina Danstrup | Head of Media Relations | Phone: +45 30 77 05 52 | lind@novozymes.com

Investor Relations
Tobias Bjorklund | Head of Investor Relations | Phone: +45 30 77 86 82 | tobb@novozymes.com 

Important Notice

This announcement contains statements which are "forward-looking statements" or could be considered as such. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words ‘aim’, 'believe', 'estimate', 'anticipate', 'expect', 'intend', 'may', 'will', 'plan', 'continue', 'ongoing', 'possible', 'predict', 'plans', 'target', 'seek', 'would' or 'should', and contain statements made by the company regarding the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are warned that none of these forward-looking statements offers any guarantee of future performance. The Biotalys actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. Biotalys makes no undertaking whatsoever to publish updates or adjustments to these forward-looking statements, unless required to do so by law.

Attachments

• Biotalys and Novozymes partnership press release - 21 June 2022
• Biotalys en Novozymes samenwerking persbericht - 21 June 2022