Eden Regulatory News (EDEN)

20 February 2019

Eden Research plc

("Eden" or "Company")

EU Product Authorisation - Cedroz

Eden Research plc (AIM: EDEN), the AIM listed company that develops and supplies breakthrough biopesticide products and natural microencapsulation technologies to the global crop protection, animal health and consumer products industries, is pleased to announce that its commercial partner, Eastman Chemical Company ("Eastman"), has received authorisation for Eden's nematicide formulation, marketed as Cedroz by Eastman, from the Regulatory Affairs Directorate in Malta. Malta is acting as the zonal rapporteur Member State for the Southern EU agricultural zone and on behalf of a number of EU countries for indoor uses.

Cedroz is an innovative and natural solution designed to fight nematodes, a species that is known to cause severe damage to crops globally for both open field and greenhouse growers, resulting in yield losses and increasing farmers costs. Malta has authorised the use of Cedroz on a wide range of crops, including cucumbers, courgettes, melons, aubergine, peppers, tomatoes and strawberries. 

In line with consumer demand and a regulatory push for "safer" products, Cedroz is an attractive alternative for farmers looking to fight nematodes in an environmentally friendly way. Unlike many other products, Cedroz will have zero residues and a zero-day pre-harvest interval, thereby allowing applications right up to harvest, if required. 

Following the authorisation by Malta, the concerned Member States ("cMS") must grant their individual approvals for the sale and use of Cedroz within their jurisdictions. The pending approvals will cover Spain and Italy, for outdoor uses and will also cover France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as Spain and Italy, for professional greenhouse uses. Once approved, Cedroz will be the first of Eden's formulations to be sold and used in the United Kingdom, where the company is headquartered.

Sean Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Eden, said: "Following Eden's initial investment in the formulation of this important product , Eastman has invested significant resource over the past three years in the further development of Cedroz, and it is pleasing to see our collective efforts coming to fruition.

"Traditional crop protection products are increasingly coming under threat from global regulatory pressures , based upon the potential impact these products may have on the environment. There is significant demand for biopesticides as an alternative measure, due to its safe nature and the absence of pesticide residue and we are looking forward to working with Eastman to capitalise on this growing demand and helping them to launch the product in a number of new territories, including the UK.

"The UK imported £5.4bn worth of its fruit and vegetables in the first six months of 2018 and has a heavy reliance on the EU for produce. Almost a fifth (19%) of imports come from Spain, and 11% from the Netherlands. Within the UK, the application of Cedroz would help to increase the yield of home-grown products, such as cucumbers and tomatoes, for every day produce."

Guy Van Den Bossche, General Manager Crop Protection at Eastman, said: "This authorisation by Malta is a great achievement for the commercial development of Cedroz. We gained strong interest in the product from farmers, following successful trials, and are confident that Cedroz will now prove itself in field and greenhouse both as a standalone solution to the problem of root-knot nematodes and as part of integrated pest management programs for the approved geographies and crops."

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Notes:

Eden Research is a technology development and commercialisation company with intellectual property and expertise in encapsulation, terpenes and environmentally friendly technologies to provide naturally occurring solutions for the global agrochemicals, animal health, and consumer product industries.

Eden's encapsulation technology harnesses 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. The technology uses yeast cells that are a by-product of numerous commercial production processes to deliver a slow release of natural compounds for agricultural and non-agricultural uses. Terpenes are already widely used in the food flavouring, cosmetics 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.

Eden is developing these technologies through innovative research and a series of commercial production, marketing and distribution partnerships.

The Company has a number of patents and a pipeline of products at differing stages of development targeting specific areas of the global agrochemicals industry. To date, the Company has invested in the region of £13m in developing and protecting its intellectual property and seeking regulatory approval for products that rely upon the Company's technologies. Revenues earned by the Company have been modest whilst the Company has concentrated on securing patent protection for its intellectual property, gaining regulatory approvals, identifying suitable industrial partners, and entering into commercial agreements. 

In May 2013, the three actives that comprise Eden's first commercial product, Mevalone, were approved as new ingredients for use in plant protection products. This represented a major milestone in the commercialisation of Eden's technology and is a significant accomplishment for any company. To illustrate this point, one should note that in all of 2013, Eden's approvals represented 3 of only 10 new active ingredients approved by the EC.

Mevalone has been authorised for sale in Kenya, Malta, Greece, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, France, Cyprus, Albania and Portugal.

Eden was admitted to trading on AIM on 11 May 2012 and trades under the symbol EDEN.

For more information about Eden, please visit: www.edenresearch.com.