Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
November 22, 2011

In the wake of rising concern about increased resistance to antibiotics, perpetuated by the use, and misuse of antibiotics in agriculture, human medicine, and livestock production, Innovotech Inc. (TSX VENTURE:IOT) showed, in a recent trial, that its crop protection product, Agress®, is an effective replacement for standard antibiotic treatments for the control of Fire Blight, a devastating bacterial disease of fruit trees.

Fire Blight, caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, can reduce fruit yield or in the worst cases, cause growers to cut-down or burn infected orchards. Primary control methods for the management of Fire Blight involve spraying orchards with antibiotics such as Streptomycin or Oxytetracycline. However, in many fruit producing regions around the world, the bacteria that cause Fire Blight have developed resistance to these antibiotics. For example, over 40% of fruit trees in Canada's Okanagan Valley have been shown to be infected with Fire Blight organisms that are resistant to Streptomycin.

"When applied once during full bloom, at very low concentrations, Agress(R) showed comparative if not better results than the antibiotic standards, while exhibiting no toxic effects on plant growth," said Dr. Claudia Nischwitz, Plant Pathology Specialist at Utah State University and Principle Investigator for the trial. "Based on these trial results, not only is Agress(R) an excellent candidate when considering a replacement for existing antibiotic treatments for Fire Blight, but also when choosing the most effective options to reduce or prevent the devastation caused by this disease, which often results in significant financial losses."

Innovotech and its partner, Syngenta, one of the world's leading crop protection companies, continue to expand the potential treatment uses for Agress(R), an environmentally friendly seed treatment and plant spray designed to protect crops against both bacterial and fungal infections. Research efforts for Agress(R), a product that is cost competitive with existing treatments, have focused on high priority diseases of "high-value added" crops such as fruits, vegetables and potatoes in addition to pulse crops, including dry beans, dry peas, chickpeas and lentils.
 

Website: http://www.innovotech.ca

Published: November 22, 2011