Biotalys and Novonesis announce manufacturing and commercialisation partnership for EVOCA NG

Biotalys and Novonesis have entered into an agreement to advance EVOCA NG – the next generation of Biotalys’ product candidate EVOCA™* – to the final stage of development.
Pending success in this final development stage, the agreement secures Novonesis as the global manufacturing partner for EVOCA NG, leveraging its leading fermentation capabilities.
Biotalys also grants Novonesis the rights to distribute and sell EVOCA NG in select crops outside of the United States, in exchange for royalty payments.

Ghent, BELGIUM , March 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) –  Biotalys (Euronext – BTLS), an Agricultural Technology (AgTech) company pioneering protein-based biocontrol solutions for sustainable crop protection, and Novonesis, a global leader in biosolutions, have unveiled a comprehensive, long-term collaboration agreement. This partnership encompasses the production, global supply, and certain commercialization rights of EVOCA NG, slated to be Biotalys’ inaugural margin-generating biofungicide.
Biotalys and Novonesis are completing the manufacturing process development phase for EVOCA NG, which includes an investment by Novonesis to facilitate the scale up in production capacity to support global commercialization. The companies will also be commercial partners in the distribution and sale of EVOCA NG for select crops outside of the United States. Biotalys will receive a royalty on Novonesis’ net sales of EVOCA NG for all covered territories. The agreed royalty percentage is a premium for the sector reflecting the uniqueness of the AGROBODY technology for sustainable crop protection. The efficacy of its new mode of action has been confirmed through multi-year field trials, and through the granting of a separate FRAC**-code for EVOCA.
In addition, the companies will explore future collaborations involving Biotalys’ promising AGROBODY™ technology platform, including potential combinations with Novonesis’ biocontrol technology.
Kim Mueller Christensen, VP of Animal and Plant Biosolutions Marketing and Business Development of Novonesis, said: “We are excited to partner with Biotalys to bring a novel biofungicide to the market with a new active ingredient. With EVOCA NG we will be able to leverage our world leading fermentation capabilities to add value to Biotalys’ very promising AGROBODY technology. We look forward to working together with Biotalys to offer another novel biocontrol solution to our agricultural partners around the world and help shape a safer and more sustainable food production.”
Kevin Helash, Chief Executive Officer of Biotalys, stated: “Novonesis is a well-respected international leader in the field of biosolutions. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to collaborate with them on producing EVOCA NG, enabling us to introduce the innovative AGROBODY technology to our global customers. This is an important step forward for Biotalys as we lay the foundation for future commercial launches from our AGROBODY 2.0 technology platform.”
EVOCA NG is a biofungicide candidate with the same active ingredient as Biotalys’ first-generation EVOCA, but with an optimized production process and formulation enabling commercialization of the product at competitive levels. EVOCA and EVOCA NG aim to provide fruit and vegetable growers with an efficacious new crop protection product to help control the devastating fungal diseases Botrytis and powdery mildew.
The biocontrol sector is a rapidly expanding segment of the overall crop protection market, projected to surpass $15 billion by 2029. Biofungicides represent a significant share within this growing sector, with total market potential approaching $5 billion by then.