Last checked at 24 Jun 2013 07:00
Eden Research Plc
("Eden" or "Company")
AGM Statement
Eden Research plc (AIM: EDEN), the AIM listed terpene and encapsulation development company, announces that it will hold its Annual General Meeting today at 12.00pm at The Farmers' Club, 3 Whitehall Court, London, SW1A 2EL. Following the formal proceedings of the meeting the Chairman, Sir Ben Gill, will make the following statement:
"Eden's fundamental business model is out-licensing our core technologies and formulations. We began with our terpene chemistry formulations, to which we have added product development and, most importantly, our encapsulation platform technologies. Nonetheless, the model remains out-licensing at its core.
I have previously mentioned that our business strategy has moved from its initial base heavily focused on the agrochemical sector, to one that still retains an important interest in that sector (as demonstrated by our recent success with the approval of the active substances in 3AEY by the European Commission) but now has a much greater potential in the exploitation of our co-encapsulation technologies across a range of sectors.
This is a very significant point of differentiation between Eden and other companies with whom we are sometimes compared and who are focused on the physical production and marketing of one or a limited number of products with all the associated and consequent costs and risks.
The Board of Eden took the decision some time ago to seek to de-risk the business as much as was sensible while looking to maximise future income streams that range wider than agrochemicals and include as well as the animal health developments mentioned in our Annual Report, markets such as cosmetics, food products and flavourings, environmental controls and more recently deals of the type we have announced with NeoPharma for the development of products to control head lice.
This strategy underpins the major differentiation of your company from others and affords us the confidence to go forward on a much lower cost and risk basis, notwithstanding the significant cost to maintain and extend the Intellectual Property (IP), with a much greater range of opportunities based on our extensive and growing library of IP which we will continue to develop and expand to meet the new market opportunities that can benefit from the use of our encapsulation technologies. Your Board of Directors is confident that Eden's future is much better placed as a result of these actions and we look forward to updating you with news of further exciting developments."
Eden Research plc | www.edenresearch.com |
Sir Ben Gill, Chairman | Tel: 01993 862 761 |
Clive Newitt, Managing Director | |
Alex Abrey, Chief Financial Officer | |
W H Ireland Limited | Tel: 0117 945 3471 |
John Wakefield Mike Coe | |
Walbrook PR Ltd | Tel: 020 7933 8780 or eden@walbrookpr.com |
Paul McManus (Media Relations) | Mob: 07980 541 893 |
Paul Cornelius (Investor Relations) | Mob: 07827 879 496 |
Notes:
Eden has developed a terpene-based encapsulation technology which uses yeast cells to deliver a slow release of natural compounds for agricultural and non-agricultural uses.
Terpenes are natural compounds which function as defence mechanisms in many plant groups and are released in response to infection, attack by pests, stress or mechanical injury. Terpenes are already widely used in the food flavouring, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.
Historically, terpenes have had limited commercial use in the agrochemical sector due to their volatility, phytotoxicity and poor solubility. Eden's platform encapsulation technology provides a unique, environmentally friendly solution to these problems and enables terpenes to be used as effective, low-risk agrochemicals.
A key milestone for the business was reached in May 2013 when the three active substances used in the Company's lead product, 3AEY, were approved for use in plant protection products within the European Union.
This allows the actives to be used with Eden's encapsulation technology in any combination to create a range of agrochemical products for a variety of applications.
The next-generation encapsulation technology, licensed from University of Massachusetts Medical School ("UMMS") recently, provides significant additional benefits to the original system as it allows release to be controlled by environmental factors rather than relying solely upon the chemistry of the substances used. This means that there is more control over the timing of the release of the active compound being carried allowing for further reduction in chemicals applied whilst ensuring maximum effectiveness.
The UMMS license also significantly expands the potential use of the Eden technology in non-agricultural applications such as health and beauty, cosmetics and animal health.
For more information about Eden, please visit www.edenresearch.com