Indianapolis, Indiana and Durham, North Carolina, USA
September 17, 2024
- Corteva to invest $25 million to acquire equity stake in gene editing innovator, Pairwise
- Strategic collaboration to also form a joint venture to accelerate gene editing solutions
Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA), a global leader in agricultural technology and Pairwise, a technology company pioneering the application of gene editing in food and agriculture, announced a collaboration today to accelerate the delivery of advanced gene editing solutions to farmers, ultimately benefitting both the environment and everyday consumers. Gene editing uses a plant’s own DNA to make precise improvements, providing growers with another critical tool to keep pace with the challenges facing food production, including those presented by climate change.
Anchoring the collaboration is Corteva’s $25 million equity investment in Pairwise, made under the umbrella of Corteva Catalyst, the company’s new investment and partnership platform focused on accessing agricultural innovation to drive value creation. The investment aims to help expand the reach and benefits of gene editing to a wide variety of staple and specialty crops.
In addition, Corteva and Pairwise have formed a joint venture to accelerate and expand the delivery of advanced gene edited technologies aimed at increasing crop yield for food, fuel and fiber production, despite increasing climate change.
The joint venture, which spans five years, will leverage both companies’ advanced gene editing capabilities to accelerate the delivery of gene edited products by generating and evaluating unique gene edits across multiple traits in a range of crops. Building on Corteva’s longstanding leadership in plant breeding and genetics, the companies will collaborate on the development and deployment of gene edited products that are more resilient to extreme weather events and climate change.
“Gene editing is a transformational technology for agriculture that will advance climate resilience in farming and drive the increased farm productivity needed to feed and fuel the world’s growing population,” said Sam Eathington, Corteva’s chief technology and digital officer. “As a gene editing technology leader ourselves, we are proud to work with Pairwise to accelerate the benefits of gene editing not only to farmers, but ultimately to those who rely on the availability of sustainably grown and affordable food – and that’s all of us.”
“Gene editing is poised to revolutionize agriculture, enabling the cultivation of crops that are more adaptive to climate change, are more nutritious and convenient for consumers, and deliver greater economics for growers,” said Tom Adams, Pairwise CEO and co-founder. “Through our Fulcrum™ Platform, we’re proud to be at the helm of applying this transformative technology in agriculture and, alongside partners like Corteva, accelerate the realization of these benefits across global stakeholders.”
Pairwise is a leader in using gene editing to make differentiated crops. Last year, the company launched the first CRISPR food in North America, and has multiple products in development across significant crops, including corn, soy, wheat, canola, blackberries, and more. The Pairwise Fulcrum™ Platform includes proprietary gene editing tools that provide the ability to not only turn a characteristic on or off but also, with base editing and related technologies, “tune” it to find it’s sweet spot for highest performance. Pairwise’s novel editing tools allow scientists to precisely tailor a wide range of genetic variation to develop new, distinctive plant varieties much faster and more effectively than through conventional breeding alone.
This is the first joint venture and major equity investment in gene editing made by Corteva Catalyst, the company’s new investment and partnership platform. The investment reflects Corteva’s nearly century-long track record (through its Pioneer brand) of championing innovation through partnerships, including with the global scientific community.
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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 Pairwise:
Pairwise is pioneering the application of gene editing technology in food and agriculture. The company brings together leaders in agriculture and tech to harness transformative genomic technologies to create innovative new products that benefit society. Pairwise is working to develop new varieties of fruits, vegetables, and large-acre crops, and to partner with organizations that seek to deliver innovation across the plant-based economy. Backed by industry leading investors Deerfield, Aliment Capital, Leaps by Bayer, Temasek, and Corteva Catalyst, Pairwise raised $40 million in a successful funding round in September 2024, bringing total fundraising to $155 million. The company was co-founded by the company’s CEO Dr. Tom Adams and agriculture innovator Dr. Haven Baker, with scientific co-founders J. Keith Joung, Lead Translator at Arena BioWorks; David Liu, Director of the Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, and Vice-Chair of the Faculty at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; and Feng Zhang, McGovern Investigator and a professor at MIT. For more information, visit Pairwise.com, and learn more about the differentiating Pairwise Fulcrum™ Platform here.
Corteva y Pairwise se unen para impulsar soluciones agrícolas de edición genética y promover la resiliencia de cultivos frente al cambio climático
- Corteva invertirá 25 millones de dólares para adquirir una participación accionaria en Pairwise, compañía innovadora en edición genética. El acuerdo de colaboración estratégica creará, además, una empresa conjunta para impulsar soluciones agrícolas de edición genética.
- La edición genética proporciona a los productores otra herramienta fundamental para afrontar los desafíos que enfrenta la producción de alimentos, como el cambio climático.
Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA), líder mundial en tecnología agrícola, y Pairwise, compañía pionera en la aplicación de tecnología de edición genética en alimentación y agricultura, anunciaron un acuerdo de colaboración para acelerar el desarrollo de soluciones avanzadas de edición genética para los productores, un proyecto que beneficiará al medioambiente y los consumidores. La edición genética utiliza el propio ADN de la planta para realizar mejoras precisas para seguir el ritmo de los desafíos que enfrenta la producción de alimentos.
Como parte del acuerdo, Corteva realizará una inversión de capital de 25 millones de dólares en Pairwise, a través del programa Corteva Catalyst, la nueva plataforma de inversión y asociación de la compañía enfocada en facilitar el acceso a la innovación agrícola para impulsar la creación de valor. Asimismo, Corteva y Pairwise han creado una empresa conjunta para acelerar y ampliar el desarrollo de tecnologías avanzadas de edición genética destinadas a aumentar el rendimiento de los cultivos para la producción de alimentos, combustible y fibra, a pesar de las crecientes consecuencias del cambio climático. El acuerdo, de cinco años de duración, pretende aprovechar el conocimiento de ambas compañías para impulsar el desarrollo de productos editados genéticamente.
“La edición genética es una tecnología transformadora para la agricultura que mejorará la resiliencia de los cultivos frente a las adversidades climáticas e impulsará el aumento de la productividad agrícola necesaria para alimentar y abastecer a la creciente población mundial”, afirmó Sam Eathington, director de Tecnología & Digitalización de Corteva. “Como líderes en tecnología de edición genética, estamos orgullosos de trabajar con Pairwise para acelerar los beneficios de la edición genética, no solo para los productores, sino también para aquellos que dependen de la disponibilidad de alimentos asequibles y cultivados de manera sostenible, es decir, para todos los consumidores”.
Las novedosas herramientas de edición de Pairwise permiten a los científicos adaptar con precisión una amplia gama de variación de genes para desarrollar nuevas variedades de plantas distintivas de manera mucho más rápida y eficaz, en comparación con los métodos convencionales de cultivo.
“La edición genética está destinada a revolucionar la agricultura, mediante cultivos que se adapten mejor al cambio climático, que sean más nutritivos y convenientes para los consumidores, y que además ofrezcan mayor rentabilidad para los productores”, afirmó Tom Adams, director ejecutivo y cofundador de Pairwise. “Nuestra plataforma Fulcrum™ nos permite estar al mando de la aplicación de esta tecnología transformadora en agricultura y, junto con socios como Corteva, acelerar la materialización de estos beneficios entre las partes interesadas en todo el mundo”.
Se trata de la primera empresa conjunta y de una importante inversión de capital en edición genética realizada por Corteva Catalyst, la nueva plataforma de inversión y asociación de la compañía. Esta inversión refleja la trayectoria de casi un siglo de Corteva, a través de su marca Pioneer, de promover la innovación mediante asociaciones, incluso con la comunidad científica mundial.
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