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Contact: Caroline Venza, Antenna Group (for AgraQuest), 415-977-1939; caroline@antennagroup.com
AgraQuest Acquires Codena, Inc., Specialist in Plant Extracts
DAVIS, Calif. (January 25, 2006) – AgraQuest, Inc., a leading provider of natural and innovative pest management products, announced today that it has acquired Codena, Inc., a Quebec-based company that specializes in the research and development of insecticides derived from plant extracts. AgraQuest, well-known in the large and rapidly growing biopesticide market for its strong research, robust pipeline, and commercialization capabilities, gains a new natural insecticide for controlling soft-bodied insects. The worldwide pesticide market is over $30 billion annually, with insecticides accounting for approximately twenty-five percent of the market, or over $7 billion. Biopesticides are the fastest growing segment, increasing at a rate greater than 20 percent per year.
“This acquisition reaffirms AgraQuest’s leading position in the large and fast-growing natural pest management market. Codena’s unique insecticide provides an excellent complement to AgraQuest’s existing line of fungicides and fits perfectly with our product development and commercialization strategy,” explains Mike Miille, Ph.D., CEO of AgraQuest. “With this acquisition, we are now positioned to enter the insecticide market with a product that meets our criteria of being effective, safe and natural.”
New Botanical Insecticide
Based on a proprietary mix of compounds extracted from a Latin American herbaceous plant, the new insecticide targets mites, whitefly, fungus gnats, aphids and other insects. With performance properties proven through more than three years of field trials in the US and Canada, the botanical insecticide will be further developed by AgraQuest to offer conventional and sustainable growers the advantages of increased worker safety, quicker re-entry following application, broader efficacy, and superior resistance-prevention compared to synthetic chemical insecticides. The insecticide’s superior performance also makes it a valuable tool for organic growers in need of a more effective option than soaps, neem oils or other available pest control options.
Hélène Chiasson, Ph.D., founder of Codena, served as the principal investigator at Groupe Conseil UDA, an agriculture, forestry, and environmental consulting group, where she discovered the botanical extract. Chiasson left UDA and helped found Codena in 2001 to further develop the extract for commercial use. “It is highly satisfying to see the project I have pursued for so many years be adopted by a company with the vision, resources and ingenuity required to bring it to market,” said Chiasson. “In my view, AgraQuest is the preeminent partner in the biopesticide market.” Following the acquisition, Chiasson will continue her work in the development of botanical-based insecticides as Director of Plant Extract Formulation and Chemistry for AgraQuest.
“Codena’s core strength and proprietary work in botanical extracts is a tremendous asset to AgraQuest, complementing our expertise in microbial research to discover biopesticides,” said Pam Marrone, Ph.D., President and Founder of AgraQuest, “The product possibilities created by this acquisition are very exciting for our agricultural and retail customers, alike.”
With U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approval expected by the end of 2006, AgraQuest will continue to develop the insecticide for use on greenhouse ornamentals and outdoor nursery potted crops. AgraQuest plans to launch the new insecticide product for the ornamental market in 2007 and to follow with additional formulations for use on turf grass, home gardens and food crops.
About AgraQuest
AgraQuest is a biotechnology company that focuses on discovering, developing, manufacturing and marketing effective, safe and environmentally friendly natural pest management products for agricultural, institutional and home markets The company sells Serenade®, Serenade® Garden, Rhapsody®, Sonata® and Ballad® Biofungicides and Biotune® Adjuvant. AgraQuest received the Presidential Green Chemistry Award from the EPA for the discovery and commercialization of Serenade Biofungicide. In 2004, AgraQuest received a Red Herring Top 100 Private Company Award and the World Technology Award for the Environment.
About Codena, Inc.
Codena, Inc. was founded in 2001 to pursue the development and marketing of organic-based botanical biopesticides. The company has successfully developed an insecticide based on an extract of a selected plant variety, and formulated it into an emulsifiable concentrate for foliar application in greenhouses, a micro-emulsion for soil application on turf and a ready-to-use spray for the retail market.
Certain matters contained in the press release concerning AgraQuest, Inc. are forward-looking statements which are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the receipt of EPA and other regulatory approval of the Company’s products, the success of the Company’s products in field trials and the timely development, manufacture and marketing and acceptance of the Company’s products in the marketplace.