Germains Reaches Milestone with PHC's Harpin Seed Treatment

Plant Health Care plc (PHC), a leading provider of novel patent protected biological products to the global agriculture markets, is pleased to announce that Germains Seed Technology, our partner for developing Harpinαβ seed technology for sugar beets, has reached a project milestone and will make the appropriate payment to the Company.

Germains, the largest independent sugar beet company in the world, has been evaluating the use of Harpinαβ as a sugar beet seed treatment both in the greenhouse and the field since September 2010. These tests have shown that the advantages brought by Harpinαβ to the performance of sugar beets are sufficient to warrant commencement of large-scale trials in the US during 2013. Registrations to allow these trials are either in place or being prepared for the start of the season. This decision to move to the next stage of testing has triggered a milestone payment to the Company.

John Brady, CEO of Plant Health Care, commented:

“This is a very positive development in our relationship with Germains and gives us further confidence in the potential of our Harpinαβ protein products. We are extremely gratified with this development, and while the milestone payment is welcome, of greater significance is that sugar beet can now be added to the list of important crops which respond favorably to Harpinαβ seed treatment. This list now includes a Brassica crop (sugar beet) as well as a legume (soybeans) and a cereal grain (maize), as well as many fruit and vegetable crops, further demonstrating the broad range of crops upon which Harpinαβ is effective.”

Paul Mullan, Managing Director/CEO of Germains Seed Technology, said:

"The opportunity to work with Plant Health Care allows us to build industry-leading combinations of the technological and biological tools and techniques to enhance the natural potential of sugar beet seed. Working with PHC allows us to further enhance our XBEET® platform of innovative value added products. Trials have shown excellent performance improvements in key market areas indicating the potential to improve both economics and ease of use for stakeholders in the sugar value chain. Additional trials are planned this year in order to further validate the benefits for the sugar beet industry and to support registration of the Harpin Proteins in global sugar beet markets."