Biopesticides specialist Eden Research plc (LON:EDEN) has signed a one-year exclusive evaluation agreement with Corteva Agriscience.
The American giant, valued at US$21bn, wants to assess the potential of the UK group’s encapsulation technology, focusing on formulations for seed treatments.
WATCH: Eden Research hails agreement with US giant Corteva
The evaluation successfully completed, Corteva would then be granted exclusive distribution rights in the EU, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.
The US group is one of the world’s largest agricultural companies and is the result of a merger of Dow Chemicals’ and DuPont’s farming focused assets.
"We are very pleased to be partnering with Corteva who, aside from being one of the largest agriculture input companies in the world, is particularly well known for its expertise in the area of seeds and seed treatments,” said chief executive Sean Smith.
“This agreement follows positive initial field trials which Corteva undertook during 2019 and so this next stage represents a great step forward in our working partnership."
Wider sustainability debate
Eden’s Sustaine technology creates naturally sourced, plastic-free, biodegradable micro-spheres derived from yeast. They offer a solution to the environmental problem of microplastics that are part of the wider sustainability debate.
Corteva’s decision to use Sustaine to protect and enhance seeds is the first time the innovation has been used in this setting. As CEO Smith pointed out: “This is the first opportunity on a major scale where we have partnered with a company to develop fully and commercialise a product using Sustaine in this new application area.”
In late morning trade, shares in Eden Research were 1.5% higher at 10p, extending gains it made on Tuesday when the firm revealed that its three EU-registered active ingredients have been approved for use in organic farming in the European Union (EU).
The ingredients, geraniol, eugenol and thymol, got the all-clear to be used in organic farming after being included in the European Union’s Organic Production Regulation.
Eden said its products will provide organic growers with the high levels of efficacy often associated with conventional chemical pesticides, thereby providing the company's growers with an alternative and sustainable solution.
-- Adds share price, Tuesday's news --