In a significant move towards innovation in agriculture, Corteva, a leading agriculture company, has announced a multi-million-dollar joint venture (JV) with biopharmaceutical firm Hexagon Bio. This partnership marks Corteva’s inaugural collaboration within the pharmaceutical sector, aiming to develop advanced crop protection products.

Hexagon Bio, founded in 2017, leverages artificial intelligence, chemistry, microbial genetics, and synthetic biology to identify chemical compounds tied to specific protein targets. The company outlined its mission in a recent press release.

The formation of this JV was facilitated by Corteva’s venture arm, Corteva Catalyst, which has previously teamed up with 11 companies across various sectors including biologicals, gene editing, and tech platforms since its inception last March. Details were shared in another press release.

This partnership follows closely on the heels of Corteva’s collaboration with gene-editing start-up Profluent Bio, which utilizes AI and biotechnology to discover novel proteins, as reported earlier by AgTechNavigator.

Maureen Hillenmeyer, CEO and co-founder of Hexagon Bio, commented, “This partnership allows us to pursue two critical missions simultaneously: developing transformative therapies for patients and delivering new modes of action for global agriculture. Our platform generates more high-value chemistry than a single development track can absorb, so we are excited to launch this JV for agriculture while continuing our focus on discovery of natural products for human health.”

Echoing this sentiment, Tom Greene, senior director and global leader of Corteva Catalyst, noted that the partnership will enhance their natural product pipeline. He explained that Hexagon’s capabilities enable large-scale screening for new molecules beneficial for agriculture. “Hexagon represents a strong complement and acceleration for our discovery pipeline, expanding our opportunity space for natural products,” Greene elaborated. He highlighted that while Corteva traditionally emphasized bacterial research, Hexagon possesses world-class fungal libraries that broaden their scope.