at a glance
On August 20th, 2024, Plant Health Care PLC became
a wholly owned subsidiary of PI Industries Ltd of India.
Plant Health Care is a leading provider of biological products, helping farmers to feed the world sustainably.
Plant Health Care’s core patented products act as “vaccines for plants”, making plants healthier, better able to resist disease and stress, thereby improving crop yield and quality.
Plant Health Care’s Commercial business is driven by sales of Harpinαß, a recombinant protein which acts as a powerful biostimulant, promoting the yield and quality of crops and PHC279, a novel harpin-derived peptide that amplifies a plant’s natural defense against a range of diseases, increasing plant health and yield. The Group sells Harpinαß and PHC279 under various brands through specialist distributors around the world. In Mexico, the Group also distributes third-party biological products.
Sales of Harpinαß were down 19% in 2023, driven by a decline in the US caused by distributor destocking. Harpinαß sales grew in every other region, with Brazil leading the way with a 45% increase in sales. Revenue from sales of PHC279, under the brands Saori and Obrona now account for 18% of the Group's revenue and were up 153% compared to 2022. The commercial business is profitable and cash generative.
Plant Health Care’s PREtec (Plant Response Elicitor Technology)
platforms are generating numerous promising products. The Group is currently focusing on three products targeting very large market opportunities with a value of more than $5 billion.
These products are currently under evaluation with potential commercial partners. The Group also continues to evaluate further candidate products from its robust pipeline of development candidates for additional crops and indications.
The PREtec technology platform is proving to be a reliable source for new products. The pipeline is poised to launch one new PREtec product each year going forward. The first PREtec product, Saori®, was launched in Brazil in 2021, through our partner Nutrien, generating a very positive response from growers. In the US, Obrona™ was launched in 2023 by our partner Wilbur-Ellis for control of diseases in corn and specialty crops. The PREtec peptide nematicide, PHC949, was registered in Brazil in 2023 and will be launched under the brand Teikko for the 2024 soybean growing season.
