BASF and PAT announced the signing of a collaboration agreement for the discovery and development of novel bio pesticides for agriculture. Under the terms of the agreement, Plant Advanced Technologies will utilize its Plant Milking and Target Binding technologies to identify potential bio-chemical candidates for novel pesticides. BASF will use its proprietary advanced plant platform to screen the candidates in order to experimentally validate their biological effects.

Successful candidates from this collaboration will be further developed by BASF. BASF and PAT bring key capabilities to the collaboration to intensify the identification and production of natural active ingredients able to achieve the efficiency and quality standards of crop protection products expected by farmers. BASF offers one of the industry's strongest and most diverse portfolios for crop protection.

The company's strong position is based on its continuing focus on innovation to drive its pipeline. As a pioneer in these fields, PAT has established biological production facilities with technology on a scale and standard that is globally unique. Based on this technology, the natural potential of plants is unlocked to produce biomolecules so far deemed inaccessible, both utilizing and preserving the environment and natural plant biodiversity.

Building on these core capabilities, PAT disclosed the discovery and successful validation of a set of targets and biomolecules beginning of the year. These molecules will be part of the collaboration.