OREANDA-NEWS. Benchmark is pleased to announce that one of its new generation aquaculture vaccines has been released into the market for commercial field trials. The vaccine is the first in a series of Benchmark's new vaccines targeted at the €300m Mediterranean seabass market and aims to provide producers with an effective control of Nodavirus - a disease that impedes growth and causes high production losses. There was previously no effective treatment available for this endemic disease.

The trials will see a significant number of leading producers use the new vaccine 'on-farm' at commercial scale ahead of market authorisation, a process which typically takes 9 to 12 months.

Full development of the product has been undertaken in-house through exploiting the Group's R&D expertise, vaccine manufacturing capability and aquaculture trials facilities to ensure a streamlined and secure development process.

Nodavirus also affects several other farmed aquaculture species including Turbot, Barramundi and Grouper, and Benchmark now plans to provide these sectors with a similar solution. The development process for producing this vaccine for seabass can now be readily adapted to bring forward vaccines for these other species.

Malcolm Pye, Benchmark's CEO commented:

"This is another key milestone for Benchmark and is testament to our increased capability, as we continue to invest in our manufacturing capacity and technology, to open up new markets for the company by solving major challenges for our customers. This product represents a significant first for the Company, as the full development process including research, design, development and manufacturing, has been delivered entirely in-house by our specialist teams."

Notes to Editors:

Founded in 2000, Benchmark represents a new model in sustainable business development. Over the last decade it has built a profitable group of companies on the economics of a sustainable food chain. The Company is growing in response to a rapidly increasing demand for sustainable food chains, and in particular for seafood, from both mature and emerging markets.

Benchmark is an ethical company with an explicit policy based on the "3E's" definition of a sustainable business - ethics, environment and economics - which guides its strategy and operations.