Plant Health Care PLC New Technology Update (0232Z)
December 12 2017 - 1:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMPHC
RNS Number : 0232Z
Plant Health Care PLC
12 December 2017
12 December 2017
Plant Health Care plc
(the "Company" or "Plant Health Care")
New Technology Update
Plant Health Care(R) (AIM: PHC), a leading provider of novel
patent-protected biological products to global agriculture markets,
is pleased to provide the following update in relation to its New
Technology business.
Highlights
- A fifth major agricultural/seed company has now signed an
agreement to evaluate Innatus(TM) 3G; all five of the top
agricultural/seed corporations are now testing Innatus 3G in the
field.
- Four of these companies have now started field trials of
Innatus 3G in Brazil for the control of Asian Soybean Rust ("ASR"),
a devastating disease of soybeans. Plant Health Care's lead peptide
for control of ASR is PHC279; this is now being produced by high
yield fermentation at pilot scale.
- Exclusive rights to Innatus 3G for use in South American
soybeans are expected to be auctioned in mid 2018, before the start
of the 2018/19 growing season.
- The Company has decided to focus its New Technology resources
on delivering successful auctions in 2018. Closing a licensing
event in 2017 has been de-prioritised to focus on the larger 2018
goals.
Innatus 3G
A fifth major agricultural/seed company has signed an agreement
to evaluate Innatus 3G. That means all five of the top
agricultural/seed corporations are now investing significant
resources on field testing our PREtec platforms.
Recent field trials commissioned by Plant Health Care provide
further support for the benefits of Innatus 3G peptides in the
control of ASR, a devastating fungal disease of soybeans in Brazil.
Farmers spent US$1.7 billion on soybean fungicides in 2016 in
Brazil(*) ; in spite of this investment, ASR resistance to
fungicides is a major problem. Four partners, which between them
represent more than 80% of this fungicide market, are now testing
Innatus 3G, with results due in 2Q 2018.
In addition to the partners' trials, the Company is
collaborating with EMBRAPA, the highly regarded Brazilian
Government agriculture research organisation, to evaluate Innatus
3G. There are good prospects of fast track registration for Innatus
3G, due to its benign biological profile.
To support all of this work in Brazil, the company has
established Plant Health Care Insumos Agricolas Ltda, a wholly
owned subsidiary.
In parallel, the Company is developing peptide production
processes at our laboratories in Seattle. The lead candidate
peptide (PHC279) has achieved yield targets at laboratory scale and
has moved to pilot-scale fermentation.
Exclusive rights to Innatus 3G for use in South American
soybeans are expected to be auctioned in mid 2018, well ahead of
the start of the 2018/19 growing season. We are engaging actively
with all our major partners to prepare for that auction.
Partners are starting to indicate promising results in 2017
trials with T-Rex 3G and Y-Max 3G. Supporting the large Innatus 3G
field programme in Brazil and accelerating the development of a
commercial formulation of PHC279 are now the company's top
development priorities. Since these priorities require substantial
resource, the Company has decided to de-prioritise closing a
licensing event in 2017, in order to underpin success with the
larger 2018 goals.
Chris Richards, Executive Chairman & Interim CEO, said "It
is a great landmark to have all the industry majors signed up to
work with Innatus 3G. With the very large resources they can bring
to bear, backed up by our own field trials work with EMBRAPA and
others, we are confident that the field trials now started will
generate the data our partners need to evaluate the platform. If
Innatus 3G lives up to its promise of fighting disease resistance,
we can be confident of a successful auction of rights to South
American soybeans in 2018."
Enquiries:
Plant Health Care plc
Dr Chris Richards, Executive Tel: +44 (0) 18
Chairman and Interim CEO 3788 0083
Liberum Capital - Nomad and
Broker
Chris Clarke / Clayton Bush Tel: +44 (0) 20
/ Jonathan Wilkes-Green 3100 2000
Company website: www.planthealthcare.com
*Source: Phillips McDougall
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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