Eden Research makes regulatory progress in US, Italy

Biopesticide and crop protection company Eden Research said on Tuesday that it has passed a “key milestone” in the United States for the approval of its products, ‘Mevalone’ and ‘Cedroz’.

The AIM-traded firm also said its Mevalone biofungicide has received authorisation for use on new crops in Italy, for the control of the fungal plant disease botrytis cinerea as well as the fungal pathogens powdery mildew and sclerotinia.

“The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has confirmed that it has granted Eden's plastic-free, microencapsulation technology ‘Sustaine’ an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues in pesticide formulations in pre-harvest applications to crops,” the board said in its statement.

“This is a key milestone, with Eden now in the final stages of a process which should result in its three active ingredients - eugenol, geraniol and thymol - and two formulated products - Mevalone and Cedroz - receiving authorisation in the US in 2022.”

Eden said the addressable markets in the US, based on the products' current labels, were worth around €94m (£80.45m) for Mevalone and €189m for Cedroz.

With demand for biopesticides increasing significantly in the country due to rising regulatory restrictions for conventional chemicals, the tolerance exemption and subsequent approvals were described by the firm as a “significant opportunity”.

In Italy, meanwhile, Eden said Mevalone is sold exclusively by its commercial partner Sipcam Oxon under the brand name ‘3logy’.

Eden said it had been granted a label extension for 3logy in the country, authorising the product to be used against two new fungal pathogens, and adding a number of new crop types to the label including berry fruits, tomato, watermelon, salad leaves, herbs, aubergines, cucumbers and peppers.

“Product applications are permitted close to the point of harvest, with most new uses having a pre-harvest interval of just one day,” the board explained.

“3logy affords growers maximum flexibility in their crop protection programmes as it is free from residues and provides the important benefit of avoiding product rejections by wholesalers and food retailers which can result from higher-than-allowed pesticide residue levels.”

Eden said Sipcam had “extensive experience” with 3logy, and recently supported significant label extensions in Spain and Portugal as well as in Italy.

“This approval in Italy will enable Sipcam to expand the market for 3logy across thousands of hectares of new high value crops, such as strawberries where over 14,000 tonnes are exported from Italy alone on an annual basis.”

At 1413 BST, shares in Eden Research were up 6.53% at 5.06p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.