IVCC and Bayer CropScience launch further project to discover new active ingredient for vector control
14 May 2009
IVCC and Bayer CropScience have stepped forward into the next phase of the IVCC strategy to replenish the diminishing supply of Public Health Pesticides (PHPs).
This project aims to discover new chemical candidates for development into new Active ingredients effective against adult mosquitoes. Bayer is ideally placed to conduct this work with its wealth of experience and achievement in pesticides discovery and development and its extensive library of compounds and screening data built up over decades of research and development.
Improved and sustainable vector control is predicated upon development of new PHPs but since the 1960s, product profiles for agrochemical insecticides have diverged from those of a PHP, leading to a 30 year drought of new products for public health. The high front end costs of developing entirely new AIs have discouraged industrial players from exploiting their vast experience in this area in the past. The key role of IVCC in these circumstances is to enable breakthroughs by absorbing some of this risk so that the depth of skill prevalent in the chemical industry can be put to good use in the cause of public health.
In order to overcome the growing incidence of insecticide resistance, the new candidate compounds will have to demonstrate a novel mode of action. Compounds showing promise in initial screening will be subjected to a newly designed screening cascade designed to show efficacy against resistant adult mosquitoes. An interdisciplinary team will select the most promising candidate compounds for field testing. At that point, a further decision on the development of the compound will be made. Satisfactory progress at each key stage will have to be demonstrated to IVCC’s External Scientific Advisory Committee.
Commenting on the project, IVCC Chief Executive Janet Hemingway said: “Resistance to current pesticides is one of the greatest problems facing us as we work towards reduction and eventual elimination of malaria as one of the biggest killers in the developing world. The development of entirely new active ingredients for pesticides will be a further breakthrough in our fight against the insect vectors that transmit malaria. This project is further evidence that by covering initial risk, we can unlock the profound expertise of the agrochemical industry and bring its special aptitude to bear on one of the greatest challenges to health in the developing world.”
Professor Dr. Friedrich Berschauer, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer CropScience AG, said: “As a global innovation and market leader in the vector control industry, we want to contribute with our products and the know-how of our experts to considerably push back malaria. Tropical diseases can be avoided if effective action is taken against the disease vectors. I want to emphasize that strong public-private-partnerships like this new cooperation with the IVCC are key to the elimination of tropical diseases.”
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For further information, please contact:
Alan Hughes, Communications Manager
T: +44 151 705 3308
M: +44 7759 243969
E: a.p.hughes@liv.ac.uk