In 1999, two private companies, both born as spin-offs of Universities in the Stuttgart area, decide to merge in order to create a leading-edge structure to research natural solutions, for both people and plants:
- SOURCON, from the Tübingen University, has its focus on the research for antibiotics for human health;
- PADENA, born in the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim, leads its research towards the discovery of new means for the organic control of plant pathogens.
These two companies share the heart of their researches: microorganisms.
At the beginning of the 21st Century, Sourcon Padena starts to concentrate totally its efforts upon the defense and bio-stimulation of the plants, up to the point of isolating the Pseudomonas sp. DSMZ 13134, a biological solution against the main soil-borne diseases. In 2012 Pseudomonas sp. DSMZ 13134 has been authorized as fungicide Active Ingredient after the inclusion in Annex I of the 91/414 EC Regulation.
In 2014 Sourcon-Padena has become part of an Italian group entirely focused on the agribusiness industry, integrating the R&D experience of Sourcon Padena with the commercial and industrial expertise. Secondary to the acquisition, the name changed to SP Sourcon Padena.
The development’s heart of SP Sourcon Padena, where the laboratories and offices are, is the college town of Tübingen.