Plant Health Care announced it has submitted a new application to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for registration of its novel peptide product, PHC949, for the control of damaging soil nematodes. PREtec peptides (Vaccines for Plants) represent a novel class of technology which stimulates the plant to defend itself. Derived from natural proteins, PREtec is an environmentally friendly approach to protecting crops and increasing yields. PREtec peptides support conventional farming to become more sustainable. The Company has invested more than $25 million in inventing and developing the PREtec platform over the last eight years and now plans to achieve at least one major launch of a PREtec product into a major market, every year. Nematode pests are found in farmland worldwide and cause extensive damage to crops, reducing yields by approximately $100 billion annually. In California alone, nematode damage results in approximately $1.6 billion in annual yield losses for almond growers. PHC949 enables plants to resist nematode infestation and leads to increased plant vigor and yield in a variety of crops. Unlike traditional chemical soil fumigants used to control nematodes, PHC949 leaves beneficial soil organisms unharmed. The Company has now made a regulatory submission to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the use of PHC949 to control nematodes on a wide range of crops. The EPA's evaluation process is expected to take approximately 18 months. The Company is working actively with Wilbur-Ellis to ready the product for launch, soon after the EPA issues commercial regulatory permits.
Plans are also underway to submit PHC949 in late 2022 for registration in Brazil, setting the stage for commercialization of PHC949 for use on soybeans in Brazil in 2024.