Novozymes, Syngenta partner in marketing biofungicide

Novozymes, a world leader in bioinnovation, and Syngenta, a leading agricultural company, announced Friday an exclusive global marketing and distribution agreement on the microbial-based biofungicide Taegro. The natural solution targets fungal diseases in a variety of crops.

The two companies will join forces to bring Novozymes’ Taegro to farmers worldwide through Syngenta’s global organization. Novozymes has a Davis research and development operation at 1445 Drew Ave. in South Davis.

“This collaboration matches Syngenta’s global market strength and leading position within fungicides and integrated solutions with Novozymes’ deep know-how on sustainable, biobased technologies,” Thomas Videbæk, executive vice president of Novozymes, said in a news release. “Using technology developed by Novozymes, Syngenta will provide farmers all over the world with a biological product to help sustainably combat fungal diseases in a powerful manner.”

Added John Atkin, chief operating officer of Syngenta, “We’re delighted to enter into another agreement to commercialize a Novozymes technology. Having worldwide commercial rights for Taegro will further strengthen our ability to offer high-performing integrated crop solutions.”

Taegro offers a biological solution in the form of a microbial-based fungicide, based on the naturally occurring Bacillus subtilis bacterium, which is complementary to existing fungicide technology, the news release said. It effectively targets fungal diseases such as Rhizoctonia and Fusarium on fruit and vegetables, and its application is expected to be expanded to a wider portfolio of broad-acre crops such as wheat, soy and corn.

Under the terms of the agreement, Novozymes and Syngenta will share the task of bringing Taegro to market. Syngenta will be responsible for sales, marketing and distribution, while Novozymes will be responsible for production and registration. Trials are planned to secure data to continue to build on the current U.S. registration in other regions, following which the two companies will aim for a global rollout.

Financial details about the agreement were not disclosed.

For more information, visit www.novozymes.com or www.syngenta.com.