Plant Health Regulatory News (PHC)

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."

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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