Lavie Bio, Evogene's Ag-Biologicals Subsidiary, Announces the Nomination of Industry Experts to its Board of Directors

REHOVOT, Israel, Sept. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lavie Bio, a subsidiary of Evogene (NASDAQ: EVGN) (TASE: EVGN), focusing on improving food quality, agricultural sustainability and productivity through the development of novel microbiome based agriculture biological products, today announced the nomination of several notable industry experts to its Board of Directors, joining Mr. Ofer Haviv, Chairman of the Board.

The members newly nominated to Lavie Bio's Board of Directors are:

Mr. Kristian Bjørneboe

Mr. Bjørneboe previously served as Vice President of New Business Development at Atos Medical AB, Sweden, where he led the M&A and business development activity. Prior to that, Mr. Bjørneboe worked for 10 years at Novozymes, where he held the position of VP of Business Development, responsible for leading numerous M&A transactions as part of Novozymes Ag-Biologicals division establishment. Mr. Bjørneboe also previously held a position with McKinsey & Company. Mr. Bjørneboe holds advisory roles in various companies including blue-chip and start-up companies and an ag-tech focused venture capital fund.

Mr. Bjørneboe holds a M.Sc. in Management of Technology: a science and technology-oriented MBA program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management as well as a M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from The Technical University of Denmark.

Prof. Oded Shoseyov

Prof. Shoseyov is a world-renowned scientist and a faculty member of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prof. Shoseyov conducts research in plant molecular biology protein engineering and nano-biotechnology. Prof. Shoseyov received the Outstanding Scientist Polak Award for 2002, the Kay Award for Innovative and Applied Research in 1999 and 2010, and the 2012 Israel Prime Minister Citation for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He is the scientific founder of 12 companies, including Futuragene and Collplant.

Mr. Rowdy D. Smith

Rowdy Smith is the Global Portfolio Leader for the Seed Applied & Biological Technologies for Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont™.  He leads the global strategic vision and directs the overall business operations which include: research and development, business development, technology scouting, technical services, product management and strategic relationships.

Mr. Smith joined DuPont Pioneer in 2001 and has worked in a variety of finance, marketing, commercial and strategy leadership roles within the seed business and corporate levels. He also led the integration management office and was responsible for developing Corteva's integration plans associated with the merger between Dow and DuPont. Prior to his current role, Mr. Smith led the global Seed Platform strategy and was responsible for overseeing the end-to-end strategic planning process.

Mr. Smith earned his Bachelor of Science from Northwest Missouri State University and his Certified Public Account license for the state of Iowa in 1999. He also served four years in the United States Navy. 

Mr. Trevor Thiessen

Mr. Thiessen previously served as President of Novozymes BioAg Inc and VP of Novozyme, where he was responsible for the BioAg business within the Novozymes organization and its establishment as well as overseeing its global commercial activities.

Mr. Thiessen previously also held managerial positions at Monsanto and at Philom Bios Inc, ag-biologicals company that was acquired by Novozymes, and is currently co-owner of Redekop manufacturing, an agriculture equipment manufacturer.

Mr. Thiessen holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Commerce; Finance/Marketing both from the University of Saskatchewan.

Ofer Haviv, Lavie Bio's Chairman of the Board, stated: "I am very pleased to announce the nomination of these impressive industry experts to Lavie Bio's Board. I am confident that with their combined expertise and extensive experience in this growing industry, the Board is well-equipped to lead Lavie Bio to pioneering the introduction of next generation, microbiome based ag-biological product." 

About Lavie Bio Ltd.

Lavie Bio, a subsidiary of Evogene (NASDAQ: EVGN) (TASE: EVGN), aims to improve food quality, agricultural sustainability and productivity through the introduction of microbiome based ag-biological products. Lavie's unique approach utilizes a proprietary computational predictive technology, leveraging big data and advanced informatics for the design of microbiome-based products. Lavie's product candidate pipeline of bio-stimulants and bio-pesticides addresses major needs in row crops such as corn and wheat as well as specialty crops such as grapes. For more information on the company, please visit: https://www.lavie-bio.com/.

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Investor and Public Relations Contact :

Rivka Neufeld
Investor Relation and Public Relations Manager
E: [email protected]
T: +972-8-931-1940

Joseph Green
Edison Group
E: [email protected]
T: +1-646-653-7030

Laine Yonker
Edison Group
E: [email protected]
T: +1-646-653-7035

SOURCE Lavie Bio