Yara International and Oerth Bio collaborate to tackle crop resilience

Oerth Bio (pronounced earth'), an agricultural biotechnology company pioneering targeted protein degraders in plants, and Yara International, a leading crop nutrition company, have announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration applying Oerth’s novel protein degrader technology to crop efficiency applications.

The collaboration will focus on boosting plant resilience to combat escalating climate stress impacting crop production and farm economics. The companies will co-develop novel products to improve nutrient use efficiency and strengthen plant resilience to climate change. By linking Yara’s agronomic expertise in crop physiology and crop nutrition to Oerth’s specialization in rational design of plant protein degraders, the collaboration will develop unique products to activate precision plant stress tolerance.

“This collaboration will be a game-changing win for farmers – a completely new product range to safeguard crop quality and yield, even as climate challenges increase and become more unpredictable,” said Lars Roesag, EVP Corporate Development & Deputy CEO, Yara International.

Yara sees tremendous promise in the new technology, as indicated by Yara Senior Vice President of Agronomy and R&D, Markus Himken: “This collaboration will catapult Yara’s competitive footprint, offering farmers plant nutrition solutions specifically targeting plant resilience and improved crop quality – setting a new sustainable agriculture paradigm.”

The collaboration merges Yara’s ambition for a nature-positive food future, and Oerth’s vision that protein degrader technology will transform agriculture. Oerth’s Attune platform harnesses a naturally occurring protein recycling system that precisely tunes climate-adaptable crops.

The companies are devoted to the idea that human health begins with plant health. They share a foundational commitment to sustainable and nutritious food system solutions, as Apostolos Klontzaris, Senior Vice President of Corporate and Business Development at Oerth Bio remarked, “This will be the first in a series of solutions that will enable crops to withstand climate change, enhance input efficiency, and improve food nutrient profiles. We are inspiring and motivating the necessary transition to high-quality food. Such mission-critical collaborations symbolize our longstanding commitment to humanity.

“We believe PROTAC degrader technology is the sustainable answer to a safe, productive, resilient, and more nutritious food system," concluded John Dombrosky, CEO, Oerth Bio. "By partnering with agricultural leaders like Yara, we are poised to deliver tangible benefit to farmers, as they face fast emerging operational complexity and climate challenges."