New Collaboration in the Development of Breakthrough Crop Enhancers

plantarcbio, an israeli agritech startup company, and icl innovation, a subsidiary of icl (nyse; tase: icl), announced today that they have signed a collaboration agreement for the development of innovative crop productivity enhancers for agriculture. the agreement was signed following a proof of concept that was performed by the companies in 2018.

as part of the collaboration between the companies, plantarcbio will use its discovery capabilities to identify biological targets and by using innovative techniques, will bring about improved crop productivity in various crops for global agriculture. targets that will be successfully identified as possessing a positive impact on crop productivity will be integrated in the icl development pipeline for continued development and formulation. both parties estimate that the commercialization of their collaborative products will be possible within five years.

“this collaboration brings together two very unique companies, each of which possesses distinct capabilities”, said dr. dror shalitin, founder and ceo of plantarcbio. “icl, in addition to being a leading producer of minerals and chemicals, brings extensive agronomic capabilities and know-how.

we believe that in combination with the innovative discovery and thinking capabilities of plantarcbio, we will be able to introduce new biology-based crop enhancers, that we will offer to the market as stand-alone products, or in combination with the icl products. we are very excited about the collaboration with icl and about the potential to improve the productivity of important agricultural crops such as corn. the new potential for the use of this technology is immense and can be applicable, in the future, for all agricultural crops”.

dr. eddy kaufman, ceo of icl innovation: “we are delighted to embark on this cutting-edge project with plantarcbio, which has impressed us with its unique capabilities in the discovery of targets for crop productivity enhancement and validating their impact on plants. icl has a unique range of specialty fertilizers, market understanding and extensive agronomic know-how. our products improve the efficiency of plant nutrition, reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, improve environmental quality, increase productivity and enhance crop quality. moreover, we strive to improve crop yield through the use of innovative technologies. we are looking forward to the collaboration with plantarcbio, which will provide us with access to innovative crop productivity enhancers that to further expand our product offering”.