Plant Health Care (PHC ) has signed a commercial agreement with a European fermentation company to supply its Saori® soybean seed treatment to its Brazilian distribution partners.
Saori™, which is also known as PHC279, was developed as a seed treatment for soybeans in Brazil, a country which currently stands as one of the world’s leading soybean producers.
The Group, which provides patent-protected biological products to global agriculture markets, said this latest deal will ensure that the projected global product demand of PHC279 is met.
The Company highlighted to investors that to date, production cost targets for Saori™ have been met, something which has ensured an ‘attractive gross margin’ for the company as well as an ‘attractive return on investment’ (ROI) for farmers who plant Saori-treated soybeans.
The company outlined that other PREtec peptides are currently undergoing pilot-scale manufacturing within the same facility in support of new product regulatory filings “and, ultimately, commercial-scale manufacturing of a portfolio of PREtec-based products.”
Plant Health Care intends to commercialise Saori™, as well as its other PREtec peptides, across a market that is worth more than $5 billion. In particular, the launch of Saori™ in the US is anticipated to occur in 2H22 after it has obtained the appropriate regulatory licences.
Saori™, which is the Company’s first product from its PREtec platform to be commercialised, is the first PREtec peptide approved in Brazil. Derived from natural proteins, PREtec peptides ‘represent a novel class of technology which stimulates the plant to defend itself.’
Saori™ is used in order to prevent and treat Asian Soybean Rust (“ASR”) which is a disease caused by the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi, which can lead to crop yield loss of up to 90%.
According to data presented in today’s statement, Brazilian soybean farmers spent $2.85 bn on disease control in the 2019/20 season, around 90% of which was for ASR control.
Commenting on this latest commercial agreement, Chris Richards, Chief Executive Officer of Plant Health Care, stated, “We are delighted to have achieved this critical milestone in bringing our exciting new technology to market around the world. This new agreement establishes a first-class capability to supply Saori directly to our distribution partners in Brazil.
Initial growth in response to the launch of the Saori soybean seed treatment with Nutrien Ag Solutions in Brazil has been most encouraging and we are pleased to have established manufacturing arrangements to support wider adoption of PHC279 in 2022 and beyond.”
In September 2021, Plant Health Care informed investors that its preparations for the first launches of PHC279 were ‘progressing to plan’ with further PREtec peptides in the 2H21 pipeline, which it believes should drive material revenue growth ‘to FY21 and beyond.’
At the time, it said the medium-term prospects for PREtec peptides were also strong, with the Company rapidly establishing routes to markets worth more than $5 billion annually.
The Board said it had also concluded that the Company has sufficient funds to achieve cash flow breakeven, negating requirements for further dilution on current growth plans, it noted.
|Following the successful equity raise in March 2021, the Board has approved measured investments to accelerate the market entry of PHC279 and PHC949, which are expected to pay back in 2023 & 2024. The Board intends to maintain a conservative approach to cash management, targeting cash break even within existing cash reserves,” said Richards.
Follow News & Updates from Plant Health Care: