Ecogen Inc. will receive a $7 million equity investment as partof an agreement for the marketing and distribution of itsCutlass Bt, Condor Bt and Foil Bt bioinsecticides in Malaysia,Indonesia and Singapore through an industrial group led byLawrence Quah Gin Khoon.

Under the agreement, which is subject to government approvalin Malaysia, Quah will invest $7 million in Ecogen commonstock (NASDAQ:EECN), which closed Monday at $12.50, down 25cents. Ecogen has about 15 million shares outstanding.

"We are excited about it because it is unusual to get that kindof money from that part of the world or from any distributor,"John E. Davies, Ecogen chairman and chief executive officer,told BioWorld. "It is a small part of the world market, yet it isimportant. Insecticides are required to grow anything there,but Malaysia has recently had some of its traditional vegetableexport markets closed because of chemical residues, and thatis causing a major political problem." -- Kris Herbst

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