Plant Health Care announces Harpinαβ approval in Belgium

Plant Health Care^® (AIM: PHC.L), a leading provider of novel patent-protected biological products to global agriculture markets, announced that Harpinαβ, the Company's core, high-value fertilizer product with biostimulant properties, has successfully achieved registration in Belgium. This is a major operational milestone for the Company and permits immediate sales of Harpinαβ in Belgium. 

Following the initial regulatory approval in France in October 2022, Plant Health Care has pursued approvals to expand the use of Harpinαβ across Europe. Mutual recognition was achieved in Poland and Spain in 2023 and Portugal in February of 2024. With the granting of the derogation, Belgium is the next EU country to authorize sales of Harpinαβ. Europe is the world's largest market for sustainable agriculture with annual sales of over $2 billion.

Harpinαβ is a recombinant protein that acts as a powerful biostimulant, improving the yield and quality of crops. Plant Health Care is launching Harpinαβ for use in European potato production, followed by fruit and vegetable crops. Belgium is one of the leading agricultural producers in the EU, and the Belgium potato harvest in 2023 was 4.85 million tons from 96,000 planted hectares.

The Company sells Harpinαβ through specialist distributors around the world. Field trials are ongoing with interested distributors to observe the results of Harpinαβ on treated potato plants and the Company plans to select a distributor for the European market prior to the end of 2024.

Angel Marin, Director EMEAA for Plant Health Care, said: ‟It has been a long-term goal of the Company to expand the use of its core product, Harpinαβ across Europe's biggest agricultural markets. The authorization to begin sales in Belgium brings us one-step closer and the Company expects to select our distribution partner for the EU countries by the end of the year. Harpinαβ is an environmentally friendly, and proven protein technology which improves plant growth and development resulting in higher quality, yields and long-term storage stability, which are critical as the world seeks to address food security."