(1888PressRelease)
May 16, 2009 - Bayer CropScience has the expertise needed to help develop such active ingredients: the company will contribute its extensive library of substances and screening capabilities and its many years of experience in chemical synthesis and insecticides research and development to the project.
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. Diseases can be avoided by taking effective action against their vectors. Strong public-private-partnerships like this new cooperation with the IVCC are key to the elimination of tropical diseases.” According to figures of the World Health Organization (WHO), about 3.3 billion people – half of the world´s population – are at risk of malaria. Every year, there are about 250 million cases and nearly one million deaths.
Commenting on the project, IVCC Chief Executive Officer Professor Dr. Janet Hemingway said: “Resistance to current pesticides is one of the greatest problems facing us in our battle against malaria – one of the biggest killers in the developing world. This project gives us access to the profound expertise of the agrochemical industry and brings its special aptitude to bear on one of the greatest challenges to health in the developing world.”
The development of new PHPs is vital for improved and sustainable vector control. Dr. Alexander Klausener, Bayer CropScience’s Head of Research added: “The development of new active ingredients for pesticides could be a breakthrough in our fight against the insect vectors that transmit malaria. Our researchers are very proud to work with the IVCC and are confident that together we will discover new solutions based on our powerful pipeline of innovative molecules.”
Substances 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 further chemically optimize the selected substances and then select the most promising candidate compounds for field testing.
About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 6.4 billion (2008), is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of more than 18,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.newsroom.bayercropscience.com
About the IVCC
Initially established as a research consortium in November 2005, the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) has evolved into a Product Development Partnership (PDP). The IVCC is registered as a not for profit company and registered charity in 2008. Bringing together expertise and technical resources the aim is to overcome the barriers to innovation in the development of new insecticides and information systems for public health vector control. Find more information at www.ivcc.com
Find more information at www.bayercropsience.com
###
