REG - Eden Research plc - AGM Statement

Eden ResearchAnnouncement

29/06/2023 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20230629:nRSc3022Ea&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 3022E  Eden Research plc  29 June 2023

 

 

29 June 2023

 

 

Eden Research Plc

("Eden" or "Company")

 

AGM Statement

 

Eden Research plc (AIM: EDEN), the AIM-quoted company focused on sustainable
biopesticides and a plastic-free formulation technology for use in global crop
protection, animal health and consumer products industries, will hold its
Annual General Meeting today at 11:00am at 6/7/8 Tokenhouse Yard, London.

 

At the meeting, Eden's Chairman, Lykele van der Broek, will make the
following statement:

 

"Since we last convened, Eden has achieved a number of significant milestones
which have materially reshaped the business, lifting our financial performance
and providing better insight into our growth trajectory.

 

Our industry requires tremendous patience as we navigate extensive lab
research, glasshouse and field trials, regulatory requirements, and commercial
agreements. Often, we are at the behest of the regulatory authorities, who
conduct stringent checks to ensure that our naturally-derived products meet
all their safety and efficacy criteria. Eden plays an active role throughout
this process to ensure that the necessary paperwork, documentation, and
evidence are provided so they are well-equipped to make an informed decision
to approve our applications. This process means it can take a while before we
can introduce our products to the market and realise the full potential of our
innovative technology.

 

Our success over the past 12 months has been the culmination of countless
hours of effort to ensure that farmers across the globe have access to our
patented products and can protect their crops in a sustainable way. Most
notably, we have secured entry into the US market, with federal approval from
the US EPA for our two formulated products, three associated active
ingredients and Sustaine® encapsulation system. Furthermore, we have gained
approvals in various states, such as California (Cedroz), Florida, Washington,
Oregon, and New York, to name a few.  We are still eagerly awaiting approval
in California for Mevalone, which we expect to arrive in time for the 2024
growing season. Here, we will target the lucrative Californian wine industry,
where there is demand for sustainable fungicides as winegrowers are under
increasing pressure to adopt sustainable winemaking practices.

 

While we are pleased to have finally broken ground in the US, we see this one
milestone as the start of an exciting journey ahead. Where the EPA process has
previously been long-drawn-out, the completed registration of our active
ingredients will allow us to accelerate the regulatory approvals and
registration process of other formulated products based on these same
terpenes. This includes an advanced insecticide development programme and our
newly announced seed treatment, EcovelexÔ, for which we are currently
pursuing regulatory authorisation in the EU.

 

We are pleased to have obtained various approvals for Mevalone and Cedroz in
other key geographies. In April of this year, we had our first Central
European approval with the registration of Mevalone on grapes and apples in
Poland, one of the largest producers of apples in the EU. This regulatory
authorisation marks the first of more to come in Central Europe, where we will
be targeting the attractive wine markets of Germany, Austria, and Hungary.

 

On yet another development front, Mevalone, can now be used domestically by
gardeners in Italy, affording home growers the same access to our sustainable
products as commercial farmers. This is the first time we have been able to
provide domestic access to our products, demonstrating the versatility that we
can achieve with the continued development of our existing product line.

 

Our recent full-year financial results illustrated a return to meaningful
sales growth as we recover from the previous two years which were impacted by
the global pandemic. We expect the 2023 financial year to be equally strong as
we make the most of our new product approvals and label extensions. We also
expect our new distribution agreement in France with Corteva to begin to
significantly boost sales of Mevalone, where we will seek to maximise the
marketing opportunities in the wine industry's second-largest market by
hectarage and production.

 

Finally, you will have all heard about the unveiling of our latest product,
Ecovelex, which is the result of our joint efforts with Corteva, which began
just over three years ago. Since Corteva's initial approach to using our
technology to protect its seeds from bird infestation, we have conducted over
one hundred rigorous trials, and we are absolutely delighted to be able to say
the product is more than capable of replacing the incumbent conventional
products which face regulatory pressure. The revenue potential of Ecovelex
within the seed treatments industry is expected to be significant for Eden,
particularly in the wake of a growing number of conventional seed treatments
being removed from the market. We seek to bring Ecovelex to the market as soon
as practically possible and will closely evaluate all opportunities available
to us.

 

To wrap up, I would like to congratulate the management team on their
persistence in recent times and for the successes we are witnessing. I'd also
like to thank you, our shareholders, for your loyal support during this time.
I look forward to providing further updates on the company's progress in due
course."

 

 

Company presentation

 

After the conclusion of the formal business of the AGM, Sean Smith, Eden's
Chief Executive Officer, will provide a short presentation to investors with
an overview of the Company's progress and strategy.

 

The presentation will be made available on the Company's website later today.

 

 

 

For further information contact:

 

 Eden Research plc                                     www.edenresearch.com (http://www.edenresearch.com/)
 Sean Smith                                            01285 359 555

Alex Abrey

 Cenkos Securities plc (Nominated advisor and broker)
 Giles Balleny / Max Gould (corporate finance)         020 7397 8900

Michael Johnson (sales)

 Hawthorn Advisors (Financial PR)
 Simon Woods                                           eden@hawthornadvisors.com (mailto:eden@hawthornadvisors.com)

 Felix Meston

 

 

Notes to Editors:

 

Eden Research is the only UK-listed company focused on biopesticides for
sustainable agriculture. It develops and supplies innovative biopesticide
products and natural microencapsulation technologies to the global crop
protection, animal health and consumer products industries.

 

Eden's products are formulated with terpene active ingredients, based on
natural plant defence metabolites. To date, they have been primarily used on
high-value fruits and vegetables, improving crop yields and marketability,
with equal or better performance when compared with conventional pesticides.
Eden has two products currently on the market:

 

Based on plant-derived active ingredients, Mevalone ® is a foliar
biofungicide which initially targets a key disease affecting grapes and other
high-value fruit and vegetable crops.  It is a useful tool in crop defence
programmes and is aligned with the requirements of integrated pest management
programmes. It is approved for sale in a number of key countries whilst Eden
and its partners pursue regulatory clearance in new territories thereby
growing Eden's addressable market globally.

 

Cedroz ™( )is a bionematicide that targets free living nematodes which are
parasitic worms that affect a wide range of high-value fruit and vegetable
crops globally.  Cedroz is registered for sale on two continents and Eden's
commercial collaborator, Eastman Chemical, is pursuing registration and
commercialisation of this important new product in numerous countries
globally.

 

Eden's Sustaine(®)( )encapsulation technology is used to harness the
biocidal efficacy of naturally occurring chemicals produced by plants
(terpenes) and can also be used with both natural and synthetic compounds to
enhance their performance and ease-of-use. Sustaine microcapsules are
naturally-derived, plastic-free, biodegradable micro-spheres derived from
yeast. It is one of the only viable, proven and immediately registerable
solutions to the microplastics problem in formulations requiring
encapsulation.

 

Eden was admitted to trading on AIM on 11 May 2012 and trades under the
symbol EDEN. It was awarded the London Stock Exchange Green Economy
Mark in January 2021, which recognises London-listed companies that derive
over 50% of their total annual revenue from products and services that
contribute to the global green economy. Eden derives 100% of its total annual
revenues from sustainable products and services.

 

For more information about Eden, please visit:  www.edenresearch.com
(http://www.edenresearch.com/) .

 

Follow Eden on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/eden-research-plc/)
, Twitter (https://twitter.com/edenresearch)  and YouTube
(https://www.youtube.com/@edenresearch580) .

 

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  AGMFPMLTMTTTBLJ