Biotalys announced the continued strong performance of its first biofungicide candidate EVOCA in independent efficacy field trials conducted by highly reputed public institutes in the U.S.EVOCA performed as a true replacer for existing crop protection products to combat fungal diseases in grapevines and strawberries. The results confirm the previous findings by independent academics as published earlier on Biotalys' website. EVOCA aims to provide fruit and vegetable growers with a safe new crop protection product to help control the devastating fungal diseases Botrytis and powdery mildew.

By offering a novel, biodegradable tool EVOCA can contribute to reducing dependency on chemical pesticides and development of pathogen resistance. The trials were conducted in 2022 and 2023 by the University of California Davis and the University of Florida and are industry gold-standard studies that provide growers and crop advisors with detailed information on the performance of crop protection products. In these grape and strawberry trials, EVOCA was tested among many other treatments and a non-treated control plot, enabling the comprehensive comparison of its performance with conventional chemical and biological fungicide products.

The outcome of the academic studies in California is particularly relevant as California is the U.S. grape market. In that respect, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) has been reviewing the regulatory dossier for EVOCA submitted by Biotalys in April 2021. The company now understands that the CDPR has finalized its own in-depth review, opening a path to a swift approval at state level if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approves the product at federal level.

In 2023, EVOCA was further assessed in four rotation programs, substituting chemicals, across 22 different spraying schemes. While the disease pressure was overall low and therefore does not mandate firm conclusions, the combination of EVOCA with an adjuvant was a valid substitution for Captan in rotation with reference chemical Switch or Kenja. Powdery mildew - 2022/2023 - Plant Disease Management Reports (plantmanagementnetwork.org).

EVOCA was assessed in two rotation programs at two dosages, substituting chemicals, across 24 different spraying schemes in both 2022 and 2023. The rotations of EVOCA with chemical products provided disease incidence levels equivalent to other chemical-only rotations. EVOCA: Pending Registration.

This product is not currently registered for sale or use i n the United States, the European Union, or elsewhere and is not being offered for sale. In this study, EVOCA is identified as EXP14.