Plant Health Care : Research Update

PLANT HEALTH CARE PLC ('Plant Health Care', 'PHC' or the 'Company')

Plant Health Care (AIM: PHC), a leading provider of novel patent-protected biological products to global agriculture markets, is pleased to provide the following update in relation to its New Technology business.

Highlights

Innatus 3G

In 2016 Plant Health Care completed its fourth year of Innatus 3G field trials. Performance was in line with previous years. Results confirm the value of peptides from Innatus 3G for three critical agricultural uses - yield promotion, disease protection and drought resistance - all of which are very important commercial targets.

Peptides from the Innatus 3G platform were added to standard industry mixtures of agrochemicals and biologicals, and applied to seeds in the conventional way. Even in a year with close to ideal growing conditions, Innatus 3G provided substantial increases in harvest yield. This all supports our view that Innatus 3G will add significant value on top of conventional seed treatment applications.

PHC has four evaluation partners for Innatus 3G. Some of them conducted field trials on a larger scale than Plant Health Care has ever done. The larger the scale of their field trials, the more enthusiastic the partners were about their results. All four partners have extended the terms of their evaluation agreements into 2018.

Greenhouse studies commissioned by PHC during 2016 showed Innatus 3G peptides providing impressive resistance against certain fungal diseases. For example, young corn plants grown from treated seed that had been planted into soil infected with the Fusariumfungus displayed fewer symptoms of stem and root. This level of control matched or even exceeded control achieved by standard fungicide seed treatments. These results have been confirmed on a larger scale in partner trials, to statistically significant levels. This confirmed that Innatus 3G can protect crop yield against the pressure of various diseases under field conditions.

A field trial run by PHC in California gave strong indications that certain Innatus 3G peptides can substantially protect corn yield from the effects of drought. This confirmed the predictions of many small-scale tests run in Seattle.

T-Rex 3G and Y-Max 3G

Two new PREtecpeptide platforms were presented to selected industry partners in 2016, supported by data from greenhouse and laboratory tests and limited field trials. Our target had been to present one platform but additional studies and encouragement from our partners persuaded us to move forward with two, so we are now ahead of plan.

PHC's product development capability

As industry partners gain more confidence in the field performance of the technology, they are starting to pay detailed attention to other parameters, including the physical stability of peptides in formulations, and their compatibility with proprietary chemistry. Positive results in these areas are required before our partners take final development decisions.

With our expanded R&D facilities in Seattle operating well, PHC is well placed to support partners as they progress towards product development. We have run extensive compatibility and stability studies. We have also carried out initial fermentation production trials, utilising our extensive experience of this approach to produce our existing products. Early indications are very promising and we can now move much faster to optimise peptides for best performance in our partners' end products and early market entry.