Strategic partnership for sustainable agriculture: Bayer and Elicit Plant join forces in France for maize cultivation

Lyon, July 22, 2024 — Bayer France and Elicit Plant, a pioneering agri-biotech company, announce an exclusive partnership agreement in France for the distribution of Best-a and EliZea products, approved against water stress, thereby consolidating a more sustainable and resilient future for French agriculture.

A partnership for sustainability in agriculture

In an agricultural world facing unprecedented climatic challenges, Elicit Plant and Bayer are joining forces to accelerate maize resilience in France. From October 1, 2024, Bayer will become the exclusive distributor in France of Elicit Plant's Best-a and EliZea products, specifically targeting maize water stress issues. “This strategic partnership with Bayer offers us a tremendous opportunity to reinforce our leadership in terms of market share in Biosolutions for field crops whose yields are impacted by climate disruption. Working with an industry leader allows us to accelerate the adoption of our proven solutions that both preserve agricultural yields and reduce plant water consumption by 20%,” said Jean-François Déchant, CEO of Elicit Plant.

Amplifying access to innovative biostimulation solutions Best-a and EliZea to combat water stress

This partnership aims not only to extend the reach of Elicit Plant's biosolutions, but also to draw on Bayer's expertise in sustainable agriculture. The impact of this partnership will also be assessed through improved crop yields and their contribution to a more resilient and sustainable agricultural model.

“Bayer, the leader in sustainable corn growing in France, supports corn growers in meeting production challenges in the face of climate change, by providing concrete solutions: a complete range of DEKALB seeds, plant protection products and digital tools via its “Climate Field View” platform. The Best-a and EliZea products complete this offering, providing solutions for optimal management of water and climate stress. By making this offer available to the entire market, this partnership demonstrates Bayer's commitment to ensuring a sustainable future for corn growing, while meeting today's challenges,” explains Guillaume Chancrin, Head of the Crops Division at Bayer France.

Both companies share ambitious goals for this partnership: leveraging the already observed success of Best-a and EliZea products to improve the accessibility and visibility of these innovative solutions. Together, Elicit Plant and Bayer look forward to a significant increase in their ability to offer farmers concrete, complementary solutions.

About Bayer France

Bayer is an international life sciences group with core businesses in health and agriculture. In line with its mission “Health for all, Hunger for none,” Bayer's products and services are designed to meet the challenges of a growing and ageing world population, by protecting everyone on a daily basis. Creating value through innovation and science, Bayer is strongly committed to sustainable development and conducts its business in a transparent and responsible manner. The Bayer brand is synonymous with trust, reliability and quality worldwide. In 2023, Bayer employed around 100,000 people and generated sales of €47.6 billion. The Group invested 5.8 billion euros in R&D. For further information, please visit www.bayer.com/fr/fr/france or subscribe to the Bayer France Twitter account. Press contacts Virginie Chevalier, virginie.chevallier@bayer.com +33 (0)6 45 70 32 58 Audrey Ossard, audrey.ossard@bayer.com +33 (06) 37 27 45 59

About d’ELICIT PLANT

ELICIT PLANT is the only AgTech company addressing the challenges of climate change impacts on major broad acre crops globally by reducing plant water consumption by 20%. Its unique EliTerra® technology, based on the exogenous application of phytosterols (a group of plant-derived molecules), enhances plant resistance to water stress by eliciting their natural defenses. Hundreds of field trials combined with rapid farmer adoption across three continents (Brazil, Europe, and the United States) for its first maize product demonstrate that its biosolutions are the only ones to secure yields and provide farmers with a significant return on investment during water shortages. ELICIT PLANT operates successfully in Brazil, Europe, and Ukraine, experiencing triple-digit growth over the past two years. For more information, visit www.elicit-plant.com. Press Contacts Pierre-Jean Perin pierre-jean@lanouvelle-agence.com +33 (0)6 03 52 29 08 Claire Arnoux c.arnoux@elicit-plant.com