Plant Health Care's new PREtec product PHC68949 granted first stage of approval in Brazil

Plant Health Care^® (AIM.PHC.L), a leading provider of peptides for plant protection to global agriculture markets, announced that its new PREtec product PHC68949 has received the first stage of regulatory approval for commercial use in Brazil.

PHC68949 (Vaccine for Plants™) is a novel technology that amplifies a plant's natural defense against damaging nematodes (a "bionematicide"), increasing plant health and yield in a variety of crops. Nematodes are microscopic parasitic worms living in the soil where they feed on plant roots, killing plants and reducing crop yields. Globally, nematodes have been estimated to cause up to 12.3% of annual crop loss, worth approximately $157 billion per year.

The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) has now accepted the submitted studies demonstrating the efficacy of PHC68949 and approved the conditions for its use for soybean cultivation in Brazil. The MAPA approval occurred earlier than expected and is the first step of regulatory approval in Brazil. The application will now be evaluated by the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) and The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA).

The PHC68949 application was submitted for regulatory approval to MAPA in December 2022 for use as a seed treatment for the control of root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus brachyurus) in soybean. For 2022/23, the soybean harvested area in Brazil is forecast to be 42.9 million hectares. Results from field studies show PHC68949 may provide control of harmful nematodes comparable to the traditional chemical nematicides and superior to current biological products.  The Brazilian authorities do not commit to a specific timeline for granting regulatory licenses, however, the Company anticipates regulatory licenses will be granted within the next 1-2 years.

After its initial launch for use in soybeans, the Company expects to introduce PHC68949 in other crops in Brazil. According to a recently published report by Kynetec, the use nematicides in Brazil has increased 10-fold since 2015, with soybeans accounting for 52% of the use, followed by sugarcane at 23%, with the remainder on corn, cotton, coffee, potatoes and 14 other crops.  PHC's target is to launch at least one PREtec product in a major market every year as part of its overall strategy to achieve revenue of $30 million by 2025 through both the launch of new peptides and expanding current and future distributor relationships.

Jeff Tweedy, CEO of Plant Health Care, said: "Today's announcement marks a significant milestone in fulfilling our strategic objectives to launch transformative commercial PREtec products across substantial growth markets such as Brazil.

"As the issue of food security continues to grow, and the farming world looks for technological solutions to achieve a sustainable future with better crops delivering higher yields and reducing environmental effects, our PREtec products will help meet global sustainability targets." 

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