New strategic milestone for Amoéba: Axpéra biocontrol product receives emergency market authorisation in France

Amoéba, industrial greentech specialized in the development of natural microbiological solutions, announces that it has received an emergency plant protection marketing authorisation for its biocontrol product ‘AXPERA' for a period of 120 days, for use against downy mildew on grapevines from 2025.

An emergency marketing authorisation for 120 days

This authorisation, granted by the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, is an exceptional procedure designed to deal with phytosanitary emergencies.

It allows winegrowers to use AXPERA over a 120-day period before a permanent market authorisation is granted (expected by the end of 2025 or early 2026).

Supported by the French Wine and Vine Institute (Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin, IFV) to enable large-scale field trials with winegrowers, this emergency authorisation is valid during the anti-mildew treatment period from mid-April to mid-August 2025 and covers up to 250 hectares. French winegrowers will therefore be able to include AXPERA in their protection program against downy mildew as early as 2025.

Grapevine downy mildew : a phytosanitary emergency

Grapevine downy mildew, which causes severe yield losses, is now a phytosanitary emergency, due to:

• Restrictions on the use of copper, which makes it more difficult to protect grapevines against high disease pressure;

• Growing resistance to conventional phytosanitary products, making treatments less effective and requiring a rotation of modes of action;

• Increased disease pressure, exacerbated by favourable weather conditions. In the Bordeaux vineyards, the disease affected up to 90% of vines in 2023.

AXPERA, a solution tailored to the challenges of downy mildew control

To address this phytosanitary emergency for grapevines, AXPERA has proven its effectiveness against downy mildew through numerous trials over several years, including in 2024:

It can be used in programs and tank-mixed with a low dose of copper, helping meet the regulatory limits on copper use;

Its multiple modes of action also enable winegrowers to better manage the risk of resistance developed by downy mildew to certain plant protection products.

Pending permanent product authorisation from AXPERA

Amoéba has reached a new decisive milestone in the market launch of its biocontrol solution AXPERA, while awaiting final product evaluation by competent authorities in France and other European countries, expected by late 2025 or early 2026.

As a reminder, following the publication of the final report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in January 2025, Amoéba initiated the application procedure for permanent market authorisation for the product AXPERA in the nine European Member States targeted as a priority, including France acting as the Rapporteur Member State for the dossier.

« Obtaining this authorisation marks a key step for Amoéba ahead of the upcoming commercial launch of our AXPERA product. We are grateful to the IFV, the wine sector and the government for their support and commitment to innovation in agricultural. We are proud to provide an effective solution to the phytosanitary challenges faced by French farmers in a context of climate change which has favoured the development of mildew over the last two years », says Jean-François DOUCET, Chief Executive Officer of Amoéba.