Evogene(EVGN) - 2025 Q4 - Earnings Call Transcript

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Operating expenses net for 2025 decreased to approximately $13.8 million from approximately $22 million in 2024, reflecting a significant reduction in costs [17] - Total operating expenses net for Q4 2025 were approximately $3.2 million, down from approximately $4.3 million in Q4 2024 [17] - Revenues for 2025 totaled approximately $3.9 million, a decrease from approximately $5.6 million in the previous year, primarily due to lower revenue from AgPlenus [22] - Net loss for 2025 was approximately $7.8 million, a decrease from approximately $18.1 million in the previous year, attributed to reduced operating expenses and income from discontinued operations [31] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - AgPlenus, the agriculture subsidiary, continues to apply ChemPass AI for developing novel herbicides and fungicides, with expectations for growth through collaborations with Bayer and Corteva [14] - Casterra Ag ceased operations in Kenya and recorded an impairment of approximately $2.2 million related to seed inventory due to a decline in demand for castor seeds [19][23] - Biomica scaled down operations and entered into a license agreement with Lishan Pharmaceuticals for its lead oncology candidate, BMC128 [18] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - The agriculture industry has faced negative performance in recent years, impacting collaboration appetites, but there is a growing need for innovation [41] - The company anticipates that cash from Lavie Bio and Biomica will satisfy operational needs for at least the next year and a half [36] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company has focused its technology development on a single computational engine, ChemPass AI, and streamlined operations to concentrate on human health and agriculture [8] - The mission is to design novel small molecules optimized for drug development and agricultural chemicals, leveraging ChemPass AI's capabilities [7][15] - The company aims to become the partner of choice for small molecule discovery and optimization in both pharma and agriculture sectors [15] Management Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management highlighted the strategic transformation to direct resources for sustainable value creation, emphasizing the competitive advantage of ChemPass AI [6][8] - The company expects to scale collaborations and partnerships, enhancing the likelihood of advancing proprietary candidate molecules [12][14] - Management expressed confidence in achieving targets and continuing to update stakeholders on progress [43] Other Important Information - The company recognized a gain on the sale of Lavie Bio's assets, contributing to income from discontinued operations [31] - Cash position as of December 31, 2025, was approximately $13 million, with cash usage during Q4 2025 at approximately $3 million [21][22] Q&A Session Summary Question: Can you speak to the terms of the BMC128 license agreement with Lishan Pharmaceuticals? - The agreement includes milestone payments based on advancing BMC128 in the pipeline and revenue sharing from the end product [34] Question: Can you speak to the magnitude of cash potentially coming in from Lavie Bio and Biomica? - Expected cash from Lavie Bio and Biomica will satisfy operational needs for at least mid-next year, with sufficient cash for over a year and a half [36] Question: What are the expected investor catalysts over the coming 12 months? - Three types of catalysts are anticipated: technology collaborations with companies like Google, additional collaborations with biotech and pharma companies, and collaborations with ag chemical companies [37][41]