Eden Research Plc

("Eden" or "Company")

Exclusive Licence Agreement with SIPCAM for grape protection products

Eden Research plc (AIM: EDEN), the AIM listed natural micro-encapsulation company, announces that it has signed an exclusive Licence Agreement with Sipcam Italia Spa and Sipcam Iberia (collectively referred to as "SIPCAM") to sell 3AEY, an Eden-developed plant protection product, in Spain and Italy. In addition, SIPCAM will have the right to trial, register, develop and sell certain other plant protection products for use in those countries using Eden's natural encapsulation technology, GO-E Inside™.

The Licence Agreement, covers the use of 3AEY in a number of agricultural applications. This follows the news announced on 29 September 2014 that Eden's Greece based licence partner carried out successful pre-launch trials to combat botrytis in grapes using 3AEY, reinforcing the results seen in regulatory trials across the southern Mediterranean zone where 3AEY showed comparable disease control to conventional synthetic products. 

Sean Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Eden, said: "The development and commercialisation of plant protection products with an established partner in Spain and Italy will ensure that we have exposure to these key grape growing regions. We are delighted to work with partners such as SIPCAM, and their affiliated companies globally, to ensure that a steady pipeline of products continue through this final regulatory process and into commercial sales.

Eden has recaptured the rights to 3AEY, which had been licensed to Cheminova, in order to grant the relevant rights to SIPCAM who, we believe, will commercialise 3AEY on a larger scale and which will generate greater returns to Eden.

We expect this to be the first of a number of agreements that we will enter into with companies around the globe that have a connection with SIPCAM and look forward to announcing these in due course."

Giovanni Affaba, Managing Director of SIPCAM, said: "We are delighted with this agreement, a milestone for us in the direction of building up a well-integrated portfolio of agrochemicals and natural products, able to highlight the well-known technical skills of our Company to offer solutions to farmers able to satisfy their needs."

Notes:

Eden is an early stage revenue company with intellectual property and expertise in encapsulation, terpenes and environmentally friendly technologies to provide naturally occurring solutions to the global agrochemicals industry, the animal health industry, and consumer products.

Eden's encapsulation technology harnesses the biocidal efficacy of naturally occurring chemicals produced by plants (terpenes) and can also be used with both natural and synthetic hydrophobic compounds. The technology uses yeast cells that are a by-product of numerous commercial production processes to deliver a slow release of natural compounds for agricultural and non-agricultural uses. Terpenes are already widely used in the food flavouring, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

Historically, terpenes have had limited commercial use in the agrochemical sector due to their volatility, phytotoxicity and poor solubility. Eden's platform encapsulation technology provides a unique, environmentally friendly solution to these problems and enables terpenes to be used as effective, low-risk agrochemicals.

With leading consultants in their respective fields, the Company is developing these technologies through innovative research and a series of commercial production, marketing and distribution partnerships.

The Company has a number of patents and a pipeline of products at differing stages of development targeting specific areas of the global agrochemicals industry. To date, the Company has invested in the region of £12m in developing and protecting its intellectual property and seeking regulatory approval for products that rely upon the Company's technologies. Revenues earned by the Company have been modest whilst the Company has concentrated on securing patent protection for its intellectual property, gaining regulatory approvals, identifying suitable industrial partners, and entering into licence agreements. 

In May of 2013, the three actives that comprise Eden's first commercial product, 3AEY, were approved as new ingredients for use in plant protection products.  This represents a major milestone in the commercialisation of Eden's technology and is a significant accomplishment for any company.  To illustrate this point, one should note that in all of 2013, Eden's approvals represented 3 of only 10 new active ingredients approved by the EC.

Eden was admitted to trading on AIM on 11 May 2012 and trades under the symbol EDEN.

For more information about Eden, please visit www.edenresearch.com 

Sipcam Italia SpA and Sipcam Iberia belong to Sipcam-Oxon group that is involved in the synthesis, formulation and commercialization of active ingredients and chemical intermediates. The group has also developed the production and marketing of innovative fertilizers and, more recently, processing and sales of seeds. The company operates (since 1946) with its technical and sales organization in 12 Countries. The offer includes a range of agrochemicals mainly originated by several Japanese partners and by Oxon, but also a patented range of micro-granulated starter fertilizers.

Website: www.sipcam-oxon.com