Agragene Licenses Pairwise's Fulcrum® Platform to Support Cleaner Pest Control

ST. LOUIS, MO. and DURHAM, NC, June 23, 2026 — Pairwise, a global innovator in agriculture, today announced a licensing agreement with Agragene, a sustainable agricultural technology company developing biological crop pest protection, granting access to Pairwise's Fulcrum® CRISPR platform.

Agragene will integrate Fulcrum® tools into the development of its Precision-Guided Sterile Insect Technology (pgSIT), which produces sterile male insects for proactive control of pest populations, increasing yields for growers. Agragene's first product (KNOCKOUT™ SWD) targets spotted wing drosophila (SWD), an invasive fly responsible for more than $1billion annually in losses to U.S. and Canadian berry, cherry, and other soft fruit crops. Because the technology is highly species-specific, it suppresses only the target pest, leaving crops, beneficial insects such as bees and ladybugs, and the surrounding environment unaffected.  

“Growers are running out of options as pests develop resistance to conventional insecticides, and they are looking for tools that are safe, targeted, and sustainable,” said Bryan Witherbee, President and CEO of Agragene. “Our mission is to deliver cleaner pest control that supports healthier crops and a healthier planet. Access to Fulcrum® strengthens the editing technology behind our pgSIT platform and helps us move faster from field trials towards practical tools growers can use.”

“Pairwise works across all of agriculture, which means partnering with people closest to the problems,” said Dr. Tom Adams, CEO of Pairwise. “Agragene is the first to apply Fulcrum® in insect systems, and it's exactly the kind of creative use we hoped good tools would find."

The Pairwise Fulcrum® platform includes proprietary CRISPR editing tools, enzymes, and trait libraries that enable precise genetic changes. Pairwise developed and proved the platform in its own breeding programs and makes it available to partners and licensees worldwide for research and commercial purposes.

About Agragene

Agragene is a sustainable agricultural technology company based in St. Louis, Missouri, developing biological crop pest protection products. Using Precision-Guided Sterile Insect Technology (pgSIT), a CRISPR-based platform, Agragene provides sterile male insects to reduce and control pest populations while reducing reliance on traditional insecticides. Founded in 2017, the company is pursuing commercial product launch in the U.S. and a licensing strategy worldwide. For more information, visit www.agragene.com

About Pairwise

Pairwise is agriculture's gene editing powerhouse, building a healthier world through partnership and plant innovation. Co-founded by early pioneers of CRISPR, Pairwise's Fulcrum® Platform accelerates the development of climate-resilient, nutritious, and sustainable crops. As a trusted partner to global industry leaders and nonprofit institutions, Pairwise helps breeders move faster while transforming food and agriculture for farmers, consumers, and the planet. Founded in 2017 and based in Durham, NC, Pairwise is committed to delivering innovation that makes food easier to grow and better to eat. For more information, visit www.pairwise.com.

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Today European leaders approved a framework recognizing the role of CRISPR and other new genomic techniques in enhancing food security, reducing external dependencies, and providing European farmers with access to competitive technologies.

This decision positions European growers to access the same modern breeding tools already available to their counterparts globally.

Dan Jenkins, VP of Regulatory and Government Affairs at Pairwise:

"European policymakers deserve credit for keeping this legislation moving, and that persistence paid off. With Europe now on board, growers there will have access to the same modern breeding tools already available to their counterparts in the rest of the world."

Tom Adams, CEO of Pairwise:

"Policies like this matter because they connect innovation to the field and the table. This is exactly the kind of work Pairwise strives to do with our partners. Varieties that are more climate resilient, disease tolerant, and require fewer inputs to grow can now reach European growers and markets. That's good for food security, good for trade, and good for consumers."

Read more: New genomic techniques for plants to boost innovation in sustainable agriculture | News | European Parliament

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Wageningen, Netherlands and Durham, N.C. — May 26, 2026 — Hudson River Biotechnology (Hudson River) and Pairwise have signed a licensing agreement giving Hudson River access to the Fulcrum® plant gene editing platform. Hudson River will integrate Fulcrum® tools into its editing services, which it offers to crop improvement customers working in vegetable, soft fruit, and other species.

Hudson River is an independent plant biotechnology company based in the Netherlands, specializing in genome editing, plant regeneration and trait development. A Fulcrum® license gives Hudson River access to a broader set of editing tools, complementing their established BioMaas workflow.

"Our customers increasingly recognize genome editing as a crucial part of their breeding tools and come to us for our ability to apply this technology in a transgene-free manner directly in elite lines and flexible partnership models,” said Lotte Westerhof, CSO of Hudson River. “Fulcrum® expands the editing toolbox we can offer, enabling us to support a broader range of applications and opportunities for our customers."

"Partnerships like this one are how Fulcrum® reaches more breeders and more crops," said Ian Miller, COO of Pairwise. "We’re excited to work with Hudson River extending our platform for specialty crops where their customers are already active — accelerating the delivery of beneficial crops to agriculture."

Fulcrum® is Pairwise's integrated plant gene editing platform, encompassing gene editing tools, enzymes, and trait libraries that enable precise changes across a wide range of crop species. The platform is developed and proven in Pairwise's own breeding programs and is made available to partners and licensees worldwide.

About Hudson River Biotechnology

Hudson River Biotechnology is an independent plant biotechnology company focused on advancing crop improvement for a more resilient and sustainable bioeconomy. Combining expertise in genome editing, plant regeneration, and trait development, Hudson River enables breeding companies to integrate next-generation breeding technologies into commercial crop development. For more information, email info@hrb.bio.

About Pairwise

Pairwise is agriculture's gene editing powerhouse, building a healthier world through partnership and plant innovation. Co-founded by CRISPR pioneers, our Fulcrum® Platform accelerates the development of climate-resilient, nutritious, and sustainable crops. As trusted partners to global industry leaders and nonprofit institutions, we help breeders move faster while transforming food and agriculture for farmers, consumers, and the planet. Founded in 2017 and based in Durham, NC, Pairwise is committed to delivering innovations that make food easier to grow and better to eat. For more information, visit www.pairwise.com.

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