Mississauga, ON Canada and Sacramento, CA USA – TheNewswire - June 26, 2024 – Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (the “Company” or “BVT”) (CSE: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (CVE:BEE) is pleased to announce an R&D agreement with Syensqo (2NF.F) (SYENS.BR) to develop its proprietary biological control agent Clonostachys rosea strain CR-7 (CR-7) into a seed treatment formulation for the multi-billion soybean market.

 

Syensqo, a newly formed €8 billion company is a science and innovation pioneer in specialty chemicals and materials. Syensqo was formed following the spinoff of Solvay’s (SOLB.BR) specialty materials and chemicals businesses into an independent publicly-traded company at the end of 2023.

 

“Collaborating with Syensqo is a huge extension of our R&D efforts,” said Ashish Malik, CEO of BVT. “Their large team of formulation chemists and microbiologists will enable us to get to market with a strong seed treatment formulation much faster.”

 

“Fast-tracking BVT into soybean crops through the well-established seed coating market will expand the Company’s addressable market beyond bee vectoring, bringing CR-7 to more growers by tapping into approaches they are already familiar with. BVT’s go-to market strategy is to commercialize this new CR-7 seed treatment product for sale through large agriculture suppliers, partners and distributors,” continued Mr. Malik.

 

Seed treatment helps germinating plants by protecting them against soil pests and diseases while boosting early-stage emergence and vigor, allowing the crop to establish quickly and reach its yield potential. The advantage of this approach is early protection: seed treatments protect the vulnerable growth stage of emerging seedlings from diseases caused by soil borne fungi. It also aligns with BVT’s core function of precision; seed treatments use a very small amount of product, often mere ounces per hundred pounds of seed. It is also popular with growers since it is a relatively easy application and they often receive seeds from distributors with the product already applied.

 

BVT’s CR-7 is also a proven entity in improving soybean yield and quality. Recent US trials showed wherever CR-7 was applied, the results outperformed the base seed treatment 81% of the time. On average, a three-bushel yield per acre increase was reported with CR-7 added, which is about 4% higher than the base seed treatment. This is in addition to previous successful trials in 2021, which also showed CR-7 to be an effective treatment against Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), a huge challenge for soybean growers. In these trials, soybean seeds were treated with CR-7 along with other seed treatment products before planting.

 

“Syensqo has proven expertise and proprietary IP on the formulation of seed treatments,” said Dr. Mason Newark, Field Technical Manager at BVT. “They are experts with a deep understanding of the complex chemistry needed for effective seed treatment. Syensqo has already started working on the CR-7 formulation, and our goal is to next work together to test its performance through germination.”

 

“In essence, this partnership is taking a proven, standard approach, and combining it with an innovative product – to get CR-7 as a seed treatment,” said Mr. Malik. “Through a future licensing agreement, BVT could potentially reap significant annual royalties from this application.”

 

Soybeans represent a significant market opportunity for BVT. There are 320 million acres planted worldwide, with 86 million in the US, 98 million in Brazil and 40 million in Argentina.(1) BVT estimates about 80% of the soybeans in the US get a seed treatment before planting, including about 50%, which also receive a biological inoculant treatment. US soybean exports are an important part of the economy. In 2022, the US exported 67.6 million metric tons of soybeans, soybean meal, and soybean oil, adding US$39.8 billion to the economy.(2)

 

(1) Source: USDA, World Agricultural Production, 2022

(2) Source: US Census Bureau, Value of Exports, Marketing Year 2022/2023 Final Report

 

About Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc.

BVT, an agriculture technology company, is a market disruptor with a significant global market opportunity in the $240 billion crop protection and fertilizer market. BVT has pioneered a natural precision agriculture system that replaces chemical pesticides and wasteful plant protection product spray applications by delivering biological pesticide alternatives to crops using commercially grown bees. BVT’s award-winning technology, precision vectoring, is completely harmless to bees and allows minute amounts of naturally-derived pesticides (called biologicals) to be delivered directly to blooms, providing improved crop protection and yield results than traditional chemical pesticides – and improving the health of the soil, the microbiome and the environment. Currently, BVT has over 55 granted patents, many more patents pending in all major agricultural countries worldwide and has US EPA registration of its Vectorite™ with CR-7 (EPA Registration No. 90641-2) for sale as a registered biological fungicide for use on the labeled crops.

Additional information can be viewed at the Company’s website www.beevt.com. To receive regular news updates from the Company, subscribe at www.beevt.com/newsletter.

 

BVT Company Contact:

Ashish Malik, President & CEO, BVT

info@beevt.com

 

BVT Investor Contacts:

Babak Pedram

Virtus Advisory Group
Tel: 416-646-6779
bpedram@virtusadvisory.com

 

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company, “annual revenue potential”, are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Company’s current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including: planted acres, selling price of competitive chemical pesticides and the US to Canadian dollar exchange rate. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include changes in law, competition, litigation, the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities, state of the capital markets, the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations, new technologies, the ability to protect intellectual property rights, the ability to obtain patent protection for products, third-party intellectual property infringement claims, regulatory changes affecting products, failing research and development activities, the ability to reach and sustain profitability, dependence on business and technical experts, the ability to effectively manage business operations and growth, issuance of debt, dilution of existing securities, volatility of publicly traded securities, potential conflicts of interest, unlikelihood of dividend payments, the potential costs stemming from defending third-party intellectual property infringement claims, the ability to secure relationships with manufacturers and purchasers, as well as general economic, market and business conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company’s Filing Statement dated August 14,2020, filed with the CSE and securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. All figures are in Canadian dollars.