Biofungicide Label Extension in Spain

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the retained EU law version of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (the "UK MAR") which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The information is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of the UK MAR. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

24 June 2024

Eden Research Plc

("Eden" or "Company")

Biofungicide Label Extension in Spain

Eden Research plc (AIM: EDEN), the AIM-quoted company focused on sustainable biopesticides and plastic-free formulation technologies for use in the global crop protection, animal health and consumer products industries, announces that its flagship biofungicide has received authorisation for use in new crops and fungal pathogens in Spain.

Mevalone^®, marketed as Araw^® in Spain by Sipcam Iberia ("Sipcam"), Eden's commercial partner in Spain, Portugal and several other countries, will now be permitted for use against powdery mildew on 22 new crops, botrytis cinerea on 20 new crops, rust disease on 8 new crops, and sclerotinia on 4 new crops. These new horticultural crops include a wide range of species such as avocados, kiwis, mangos, cherries, chickpeas, green beans, asparagus, leeks, and artichokes.

Araw has been a well-established solution to prevent botrytis in grapes since it was launched in Spain in 2016. Following the first label expansion in 2021, Araw has become the reference biofungicide in a wide range of horticultural crops and berries, including blueberry, tomato, cucumber and lettuce.

Araw helps growers to meet the highest quality standards and a large percentage of this produce is exported to other EU countries, as well as the UK and other premium markets. This has led to a significant increase in the commercialised volumes of Araw sold in Spain in recent years.  

This newly expanded label makes Araw one of the most versatile and reliable solutions to prevent fungal diseases in many crops under organic and conventional agriculture. Thanks to this new authorisation, obtained through Sipcam's local regulatory team, all relevant horticultural crops in Spain can now be protected with Araw representing an excellent opportunity in several crops of growing importance, such as avocado, mango, and almond, which has become the third largest tree crop in Spain after olives and grapes. Spain boasts the largest cultivated area of almond trees in the world and ranks third in terms of overall production. Eden anticipates that this growth of the addressable market for Araw will contribute to revenue in 2025 and beyond. Further details of this expansion will be provided in due course as commercialisation commences.

Sean Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Eden Research, commented:

"Today's announcement is an excellent demonstration of our strategy to pursue growth opportunities through both new product introductions and with existing products by targeting new crop types and new disease targets. We are delighted to build on the success of our longstanding relationship with Sipcam. They have done an outstanding job of making the Iberian region an important and strong revenue-generating territory for the Company. This label extension represents a significant additional growth opportunity for us. It not only includes numerous new crops and diseases, but it also includes a number of high-value crops that are particularly disease prone."

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Notes to Editors:

Eden Research is the only UK-listed company focused on biopesticides for sustainable agriculture. It develops and supplies innovative biopesticide products and natural microencapsulation technologies to the global crop protection, animal health and consumer products industries.

Eden's products are formulated with terpene active ingredients, based on natural plant defence metabolites. To date, they have been primarily used on high-value fruits and vegetables, improving crop yields and marketability, with equal or better performance when compared with conventional pesticides. Eden has three products currently on the market:

Based on plant-derived active ingredients, Mevalone® is a foliar biofungicide which initially targets a key disease affecting grapes and other high-value fruit and vegetable crops.  It is a useful tool in crop defence programmes and is aligned with the requirements of integrated pest management programmes. It is approved for sale in a number of key countries whilst Eden and its partners pursue regulatory clearance in new territories thereby growing Eden's addressable market globally.

Cedroz™ is a bionematicide that targets free living nematodes which are parasitic worms that affect a wide range of high-value fruit and vegetable crops globally.  Cedroz is registered for sale on two continents and Eden's commercial collaborator, Eastman Chemical, is pursuing registration and commercialisation of this important new product in numerous countries globally.

Eden's seed treatment product, Ecovelex was developed to safely tackle crop destruction caused by birds - a major cause of losses in maize and other crops. Ecovelex works by creating an unpleasant taste or odour that repels birds, leaving the seeds safely intact and the birds unaffected and free to find alternative food sources. The product is based on Eden's plant-derived chemistry, registered in the EU, U.S. and elsewhere, and formulated using Eden's Sustaine® microencapsulation system.

Eden's Sustaine^® encapsulation technology is used to harness 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. Sustaine microcapsules are naturally-derived, plastic-free, biodegradable micro-spheres derived from yeast. It is one of the only viable, proven and immediately registerable solutions to the microplastics problem in formulations requiring encapsulation.

Eden was admitted to trading on AIM on 11 May 2012 and trades under the symbol EDEN. It was awarded the London Stock Exchange Green Economy Mark in January 2021, which recognises London-listed companies that derive over 50% of their total annual revenue from products and services that contribute to the global green economy. Eden derives 100% of its total annual revenues from sustainable products and services.

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