REG - Eden Research plc - Appointment of Distribution Partner in Kenya

Eden ResearchAnnouncement

24/03/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 7431B  Eden Research plc  24 March 2025

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Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (the "UK MAR") which is part of UK
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now considered to be in the public domain.

 

24 March 2025

 

 

Eden Research plc

("Eden" or "the Company")

 

 

Appointment of Distribution Partner in Kenya

 

 

Eden Research plc (AIM: EDEN), a leader in sustainable biopesticide and
biocontrol technology, is pleased to announce the appointment of Andermatt
Kenya Limited ("Andermatt") as the Company's exclusive distribution partner
for Mevalone® in Kenya. Mevalone is Eden's flagship biofungicide developed to
prevent and treat outbreaks of fungal pathogens on high-value crops, initially
targeting Botrytis cinerea, but with an ever-widening list of disease targets.
Mevalone is formulated using Eden's proprietary natural terpene chemistry and
yeast-based microencapsulation technology.

 

The appointment of Andermatt is a result of the Company's commercial drive to
increase sales of Mevalone in Kenya, where it already has regulatory approval.
With a diverse agricultural sector producing a vast array of high-value
fruits, vegetables, and ornamental crops, Kenya represents a significant
opportunity for Mevalone to be applied to a multitude of crops.  The Company
already has regulatory approval for several of these uses in place and intends
to apply to broaden the label, ultimately further enlarging the addressable
market.

 

Food items and agricultural raw materials constitute over half of Kenya's
exports, with exports of fruits, vegetables, and cut flowers generating
earnings of approximately $2.7 billion in 2022. Cut flowers made up
approximately 8% of Kenya's exports in 2023.  Moreover, the Horn of Africa
has unpredictable weather conditions, and during times of unseasonably high
rainfall, outbreaks of fungal diseases such as Botrytis cinerea are regular
occurrences.

 

Andermatt Kenya, a subsidiary of the Swiss-based Andermatt Group, a global
group of companies specialising in biological crop production, home and garden
and bee health, has an extensive network across Kenya and has specialist
expertise in working directly with local farmers to adopt sustainable and
effective crop protection solutions to enhance their crop yields and protect
soil health.

 

Sean Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Eden Research, commented:

 

"Strengthening our commercial performance in key territories such as Kenya is
a fundamental driver of growth this year and beyond. The appointment of
Andermatt better places us to seize the vast number of opportunities across
Kenya's c.6 million hectares of arable farmland. Andermatt has a formidable
track record across Africa and a strong reputation for helping to improve
local farming practices with best-in-class crop protection products.

 

"Cut flowers are a particularly lucrative segment of the Kenyan market and is
one such area that the Andermatt team is keen to prioritise and work closely
with us on. With Mevalone's authorisation already in place for cut flowers and
a range of other crop uses, we are keen to hit the ground running as soon as
possible with a view to generating meaningful sales in the near term."

 

Hamish Ker, CEO of Andermatt Kenya, commented:

 

"The addition of Mevalone fills an important gap in our portfolio of
biocontrol products. We now have access to one of the most innovative products
in the biopesticide industry to help our farmers overcome their challenges
with Botrytis. Eden has proven the product is not only as effective as its
competitor products, but it also provides outstanding sustainability benefits
and flexibility with respect to maximum residue limits. These are valuable
traits for our growers who have needed to contend with increasingly stricter
import requirements from the EU and other Western countries, as well as
preserving the health of their soil and the environment for future growth
cycles."

 

-- ENDS --

 

 

For further information contact:

 

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

Alex Abrey

                                                       01285 359 555

 Cavendish Capital Markets Limited

(Nominated advisor and joint broker)
 Giles Balleny / George Lawson (corporate finance)     020 7220 0500

Charlie Combe (corporate broking)

Michael Johnson (sales)

 Oberon Capital (Joint broker)
 Nick Lovering                                         020 3179 5300

 Mike Seabrook

 Adam Pollock

 Hawthorn Advisors (Financial PR)
 Victoria Ainsworth                                    eden@hawthornadvisors.com

 

 

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 three 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.

 

Novellus®+ is an evolution of Mevalone, allowing improved rates in the
field, high levels of efficacy and a broader list of targets.

 

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 seed treatment product, Ecovelex™ was developed to safely tackle
crop destruction caused by birds - a major cause of losses in maize and other
crops. Ecovelex works by creating an unpleasant taste or odour that repels
birds, leaving the seeds safely intact and the birds unaffected and free to
find alternative food sources. The product is based on Eden's plant-derived
chemistry, registered in the EU, US and elsewhere, and formulated using Eden's
Sustaine(®) microencapsulation system.

 

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/) . You can also follow Eden's latest
developments via its social media channels: X (Twitter)
(https://twitter.com/edenresearch)  and LinkedIn
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/eden-research-plc/) .

 

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