Pharmaceutical Hexagon Bio Partners with Agriculture Leader Corteva to Develop Fungal Crop Protection Products
- Gauri Khanna
- 16 hours ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 48 minutes ago
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Corteva Agriscience has formed a joint venture with pharmaceutical company Hexagon Bio to develop natural crop protection products using fungal compounds
The partnership marks agriculture's growing interest in fungal libraries, which contain vast repositories of chemical compounds that could replace synthetic pesticides
This represents Corteva Catalyst's 11th partnership since launching in March 2024, highlighting the sector's accelerating investment in biological alternatives
The boundary between pharmaceuticals and agriculture grows increasingly porous. In December 2024, Corteva Agriscience announced a joint venture with Hexagon Bio, a biopharmaceutical company that mines microbial genetics for novel compounds. The partnership represents a strategic bet on fungi as a source of next-generation crop protection, and signals broader industry recognition of mycology's untapped commercial potential.
From Medicine to Fields
Hexagon Bio's approach centres on computational biology and synthetic chemistry to identify compounds that target specific proteins. Founded in 2017, the company originally focused on human therapeutics, building extensive libraries of fungal and bacterial metabolites: the chemical compounds organisms produce naturally. These libraries now serve dual purposes: developing medicines and creating agricultural products.
The logic is straightforward. Fungi have evolved sophisticated chemical defences over millions of years, producing compounds that deter competitors and predators. Many modern pharmaceuticals, including penicillin and cyclosporine, originated from fungal sources. Agriculture companies increasingly recognise that these same evolutionary innovations might offer alternatives to synthetic pesticides, which face mounting regulatory pressure and resistance issues.
Tom Greene, senior director and global leader of Corteva Catalyst, the company's venture arm, explained the strategic fit. The partnership expands the opportunity space for natural products, particularly through access to world-class fungal libraries. Historically, Corteva focused more on bacterial sources for biological crop protection. Hexagon's fungal assets represent a complementary approach.
Scale and Screening
The venture's value lies partly in throughput. Hexagon's platform can screen vast numbers of compounds rapidly, identifying candidates with potential agricultural applications. This matters because discovering effective natural products requires examining thousands of molecular variations. Traditional methods prove too slow and expensive for commercial viability.
Corteva Catalyst has assembled an portfolio of partnerships since its March 2024 launch, spanning biologicals, gene-editing platforms, and technology companies. The Hexagon collaboration marks the 11th such arrangement, and the first reaching into pharmaceutical expertise. This pace reflects the agricultural sector's recognition that biological solutions require different innovation models than chemical synthesis.
The joint venture structure allows both parties to pursue parallel objectives. Hexagon continues developing therapeutic compounds whilst channeling agricultural-relevant chemistry into the partnership. Corteva gains access to molecular diversity its internal programmes might not generate. Such arrangements have become common as large agriculture companies seek external innovation rather than relying solely on internal research.
Commercial Realities
The partnership announcement provided limited technical detail about specific compounds under development or commercial timelines. Joint ventures of this nature typically require several years before reaching market-ready products. Regulatory approval processes for new crop protection products, even natural ones, remain lengthy and expensive.
Nevertheless, the investment signals confidence in fungal chemistry as a viable source of agricultural innovation. As synthetic pesticide options narrow due to regulatory restrictions and resistance development, companies must identify alternatives. Fungi represent one promising avenue, alongside other biological approaches including beneficial microbes and RNA-based treatments.
The pharmaceutical industry's tools (high-throughput screening, computational chemistry, and target-based discovery) prove increasingly relevant to agriculture. Hexagon's CEO Maureen Hillenmeyer noted that the platform generates more high-value chemistry than a single development track can absorb. Directing this excess capacity toward agricultural applications creates additional revenue streams whilst addressing genuine market needs.
Whether fungal compounds can deliver commercially viable crop protection products at scale remains an open question. But the Corteva-Hexagon partnership demonstrates that major industry players are willing to invest substantially in finding out.