ST. LOUIS, Mo. (February 12, 2025) — Elemental Enzymes is pleased to announce that Brazil’s regulatory agencies approved registration for Vismax® Specialty. This is a patented proprietary biofungicide formulated for protection in a broad range of crops. Its registration in Brazil is specifically for use in citrus crops affected by Citrus Greening and Citrus Canker.

Citrus Greening is an extremely serious global citrus plant disease, with no current cure. Infected trees produce green, misshapen, bitter fruit unsuitable for sale as fresh fruit or juice, causing millions of dollars in losses each year for Brazilian growers. Fundecitrus data show that more than 44 percent of orange trees in Brazil’s Citrus Belt alone were infected last year.

On December 3, 2024, the federal agencies in Brazil that evaluate new crop-protection products for registration signed off on Vismax® Specialty. They are the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA), the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) and the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA). This multi-agency approval is required to register any agricultural product with a pest or disease mode of action, such as Vismax® Specialty.

In 2017, Elemental developed Vismax, a naturally occurring peptide used to control a range of pathogens that cause crop yield losses, including the bacteria which causes Citrus Greening (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus). Vismax’s peptide is a foliar application that acts upon the plant to activate and further amplify its immune system to provide self-defense against Candidatus. In product trials, treated citrus trees produced more harvestable fruit and demonstrated improvements in other key metrics, such as pounds-solids. Over three years of trials in Brazil, Vismax increased citrus yields by an average of 19%. It was approved for registration in the United States by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2023.

“I would like to thank MAPA, ANVISA and IBAMA for their promptness in evaluating our product,” says Paulo Campante, Ph.D., Elemental Enzymes’ LATAM Regional Director. “Vismax’s specific peptide triggers a plant’s immune system without the ‘energetic drag’ that other systemic acquired resistance inducers exhibit on plants. This means a citrus tree gets to keep more energy to put into its own growth and fruit yield.”

Campante further notes the Brazilian National Congress has approved a new regulatory framework for bioinputs. The publication of the new law is an important milestone for Brazilian agriculture, reinforcing Elemental’s global leadership position in the production and use of bioinputs. In addition to legal certainty, specific legislation promotes innovation and encourages the registration of new bioinputs in Brazil. This move reflects a broader effort in the Latin American region to adopt biological crop solutions and help reduce the impact of conventional chemicals on the environment.