AgraQuest and Bayer CropScience sign supply agreement

AgraQuest Inc. and Bayer CropScience LP announced that they have agreed to terms for a supply agreement that will have AgraQuest produce and package products for the new Natria™ product line from Bayer Advanced™, the U.S. consumer products business of Bayer CropScience. Under the terms of the agreement, AgraQuest technology based on its proprietary strain of Bacillus subtilis (QST 713) will be used in two Natria™ products for the home and garden marketplace. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

AgraQuest’s naturally derived Bacillus subtilis QST 713 is the same active ingredient that has been used by commercial farmers and growers for nearly a decade to treat fruits and vegetables for common bacterial and fungal diseases.

"The technology and expertise of AgraQuest are a great fit for our new Natria™ line,” said Jacqueline Applegate, Vice President of Consumer Products North America and Head of Bayer Advanced.

The two products, Natria™ Disease Control in a 24-ounce ready-to-use bottle and a 28-ounce ready-to-spray, hose-end bottle, will be available at national mass merchant chains and indepedent retailers for the 2010 season.

"We are very excited about our collaboration with Bayer, we believe that this is an ideal avenue to expand our footprint in the home and garden marketplace,” said Mike Miille, President and COO for AgraQuest and head of AgraQuest’s BioInnovations Division. ”Collaborating with Bayer allows us to more effectively serve mass merchandisers that had previously been outside our distribution focus of independent garden centers and nurseries.”