BASF launches two crop protection active ingredients

* Crop Protection division presents promising pipeline outlook

* Development herbicide with blockbuster potential


BASF Crop Protection has launched two active ingredients from its promising pipeline of development projects in the past few months: orysastrobin and metaflumizone. Orysastrobin, an easy-to-use, broad-spectrum rice fungicide, was developed for the Japanese market. The insecticide metaflumizone is a strong addition to the company’s portfolio, especially for fruit and vegetable crops and urban pest control. Both of these high-margin segments are growing faster than the overall crop protection market.

“Together with our in-launch fungicide boscalid, metaflumizone is part of a new generation of products that will help growers provide healthy, affordable fruit and vegetables,” said Michael Heinz, President of the BASF Crop Protection division. “These products underscore our commitment to innovation in this important segment.” Boscalid has beaten the company’s expectations and is now being launched for a variety of crops such as cereals and oilseed rape in combination with other BASF active ingredients. The peak sales potential for products with boscalid is more than €200 million.

Together, BASF pipeline actives launched since 2002 have peak sales potential of €1,100 million. Last year, sales achieved with these products were €700 million, or 22% of overall sales of €3,137 million.

F 500® has also exceeded expectations. In the United States, F 500 is being sold as Headline®, which was used on 10 million acres of corn and soybeans, up from 4 million acres in 2006. F 500 is the first member in BASF’s family of active ingredients with yield and quality enhancing physiological effects beyond disease control. “The development of Headline fungicide in the United States last year, especially in corn, confirms our investment in plant health, a segment that we pioneered and that we are expanding even further,” says Heinz. “Our co-promotional activities with Monsanto in the United States and Brazil will help to get the message out to an even greater number of growers this year,” he added. In Brazil, BASF has introduced the AgCelence® brand to help growers identify the growing family of products that provide increased yields and better quality beyond disease and insect control across a range of crops. “Coming from these very promising developments, we can today confirm the peak sales potential of F500 at €500 million, despite the much weaker U.S. dollar”, said Heinz.

BASF has more active ingredients with blockbuster potential in its development pipeline. One of them, the herbicide KixorTM, was submitted for registration in the United States earlier this year. Kixor is expected to receive registration in the United States in time for the 2010 growing season. Other countries will follow. Kixor will be an important tool for growers as resistance to the herbicide glyphosate increases. Glyphosate is used in most herbicide tolerant cropping systems. Including Kixor, BASF has five active ingredients and one herbicide tolerance project in its development pipeline. These projects have a combined peak sales potential of €700 million.
BASF is a leading innovator of agricultural solutions. In 2007, the division invested €328 million in research and development to accelerate its promising development projects. “The results of our research efforts are encouraging, and we are looking forward to providing our customers with even more innovative solutions,” says Heinz.

BASF continues to focus its research efforts on the promising fungicide and insecticide segments, while pursuing selected opportunities in herbicides. At the same time, the company has pressed ahead with its dedicated research for the promising plant health and seed treatment segments.