Bayer CropScience received the first registrations for its new downy mildew fungicide fluopicolide in the UK and China. The highly effective fungicide is under global development at Bayer CropScience for the control of downy mildew diseases in vegetables, ornamentals, grapes and late blight in potatoes.

Fluopicolide is the first derivative of the new acylpicolides class of chemicals. The innovative compound is based on a novel mode of action, which was disclosed to the scientific community at the International Crop Protection Conference in Glasgow in autumn 2005. Fluopicolide is providing remarkable consistent high level control of downy mildew diseases and a breakthrough for long-lasting disease control.

Due to a favorable regulatory profile, the fluopicolide product line has the potential to be used in Integrated Pest Management systems (IPM) in a wide range of crops. Bayer CropScience anticipates additional registrations of fluopicolide based products in 2006 around the world, which will put this important new treatment option at the disposal of farmers. It is planned to launch fluopicolide for potatoes as a premix with propamocarb under the trade name Infinito®. In grapes, the product is expected to be launched in a premix with fosetyl, under the trade name Profiler®, and included in spray programs with other Bayer CropScience brands.

Fluopicolide is part of the overall development pipeline of 10 compounds that Bayer CropScience plans to bring to the market between 2006 and 2011. Including 16 active ingredients already launched since the year 2000, the company sees a sales potential of about 2 billion euros for products coming from its R&D pipeline.

Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 6 billion, is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 19,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries.