Valent BioSciences Corporation, a subsidiary of Japan-based Sumitomo Chemical Company, opened its $146 million biorational manufacturing facility in Osage, Iowa. VBC is the global leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of biorational products for agriculture, public health, and forestry.

Located on an expansive 73-acre site, the new 130,000 square foot plant is the largest purpose-built biorational facility in the world and will serve as the manufacturing and quality control center for VBC’s broad portfolio of fermentation products. VBC brands are derived from biological origins and provide economic, health, and environmental benefits for agriculture, public health, and forestry markets in 95 countries around the globe.

“This is a landmark day for Valent BioSciences, our parent Sumitomo Chemical Company, and for the entire biorational segment,” said Ted Melnik, VBC Executive Vice President/COO. “Not only does this investment reflect the rapid growth of our business and validate the value of biorational technology in the marketplace, it puts us in the position to meet the rising demand for our products as we continue to develop new and innovative solutions for our customers around the world.”

The company said opening of the new plant comes on the heels of VBC’s acquisition of Pace International, LLC, in early 2013 and its announcement of a long term strategic alliance with Biomar Microbial Technologies in February of this year.

The Pace acquisition made SCC the first multinational supplier to offer both conventional and biorational product solutions for seed, preharvest crop production, and preharvest and postharvest crop protection applications. The Biomar alliance will create a new pipeline of industry leading, science-based products with additional work being conducted at Valent BioSciences’ research facility at Long Grove, Illinois. VBC currently manufactures microbial insecticides, nematicides, and plant growth regulators used in production agriculture for managing plant growth, quality and stress in crops.