REG - Plant Health Care - Approval of PHC68949 in Mexico

Plant Health CareAnnouncement

04/04/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 2218J  Plant Health Care PLC  04 April 2024

4 April
2024

 

Plant Health Care plc

 ("Plant Health Care" or the "Company")

 

Mexico approves PHC68949 to Control Nematodes in Vegetable Crops

 

Plant Health Care(®) (AIM.PHC.L), a leading provider of peptides used by
growers to improve crop production and quality within global agriculture
markets, is pleased to announce COFEPRIS registration and pending commercial
launch of the biological nematode control product PHC68949 in Mexico.

 

Highlights

-    PHC68949 is a novel product that amplifies a plant's natural defense
pathways to provide protection within the rhizosphere to protect plant roots
from parasitic nematodes, promoting crop yield and harvest quality.

-    The Company plans a limited launch of PHC68949 in the second half of
2024 to build grower and distributor awareness, followed by a full commercial
launch through its most important distributors in 2025. The brand name will be
announced closer to the launch date.

-     PHC68949 will initially be applied via drench and foliar
applications on tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and other Solanaceae crops as
well as cucumbers and other Cucurbit crops in Mexico.

 

As a next generation bionematicide, PHC68949 increases plant health and yield
across a wide range of commercial crops. Results from field studies confirm
efficacy from foliar applications of PHC68949 is comparable to synthetic
chemical nematicides and superior to current biological products.  PHC68949
provides growers with a low use rate, environmentally friendly option with a
novel mode of action to displace established synthetic chemical nematicides
and improve crop yield and harvest quality. PHC68949 provides growers with
consistent performance and convenience as it does not have label limitations
commonly associated with synthetic chemical nematicides and is exempt from
Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) restrictions, providing greater access to high
value export markets.  Product launch will focus on control of southern
root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) in Solanaceae and Cucurbit crops,
with additional claims on other crops and nematode species to follow in the
future.

 

Mexico currently plants 48,000 hectares of tomato and 150,000 hectares of
peppers per year. Mexico produced 1.2 million metric tons of watermelon in
2023 and is the world's largest exporter of cucumbers. Production of cucumbers
in Mexico is expected to reach 1.02 million metric tons by 2026. In 2022, the
plant-applied biopesticides market in Mexico, which includes both
biofungicides and bionematicides, was estimated at $200 million, growing at a
CAGR of 14.3%.

 

The Company submitted the PHC68949 application for regulatory review to the
Federal Committee for Protection from Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) in September
2023 based on a comprehensive data package.  The regulatory process in Mexico
for agricultural products involves a detailed and comprehensive review of
standard safety and performance data including replicated small plot field
trials to confirm product efficacy.

 

PHC68949 is a novel product based on the Company's innovative
PREtec technology platform. Derived from natural proteins, PREtec is an
environmentally friendly technology which stimulates plant defense and
pathogen resistance mechanisms within plants. Years of research, field
testing, and commercial experience have confirmed that PREtec products deliver
improved crop growth, harvest quality, and grower profitability.

 

Compared with alternative biological products, PHC68949 brings highly
consistent product efficacy across a broad spectrum of application and
environmental conditions and is compatible with fungicides, herbicides, and
insecticides in tank-mix and sequential application systems.  PHC68949 has a
two-year shelf-life with no special requirements for storing or handling,
which allows greater flexibility within the distribution channel and ease of
on-farm application.

 

Jeff Tweedy, CEO of Plant Health Care, said: ‟Following the approval last
month of our SAORI biofungicide, I am excited to announce the approval of
PHC68949 for nematode control. The planned launch of both PHC68949 and SAORI
in Mexico later this year culminate years of hard work undertaken by the
Company to demonstrate the safety, efficacy, and value that both products
bring to the market. We continue to scale the PREtec pipeline of products into
new markets that will offer growers sustainable technology for the land and
consumers.

 

"The approval of PHC68949 supports the Company's vision to be a leading global
provider of alternatives to conventional synthetic agrochemicals. We are
excited about the developing plans to launch PHC68949 in 2024, with strong
growth thereafter."

 

# # #

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 Plant Health Care plc
 Jeff Tweedy, CEO

                                                         Tel: +1 919 926 1600
 Cavendish Capital Markets Limited - Nomad & Broker      Tel: +44 (0) 131 220 9771
 Neil McDonald / Pete Lynch

 

 

About Plant Health Care

Plant Health Care offers products to improve the health, vigour and yield of
major field crops such as corn, soybeans, sugarcane, potatoes, rice, and
wheat, as well as specialty crops such as fruits and vegetables. We operate
globally through subsidiaries, distributors, and supply agreements with major
industry partners. Our innovative, patent-protected biological products help
growers to protect their crops from stress and diseases, and to produce higher
quality fruit and vegetables, with a favourable environmental profile.

 

Find out more at www.planthealthcare.com (http://www.planthealthcare.com/)

 

 

 

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