April 14, 2015
Dow and Radiant Genomics to work on natural-based crop protection
Dow AgroSciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company, and Radiant Genomics, have announced a research and development (R&D) collaboration to seek novel natural products for use in crop protection products.
The collaboration combines the proprietary meta-genomic and engineering-biology technologies of Radiant Genomics with Dow''s product development capabilities to deliver new products from naturally derived chemistries.
Dow AgroSciences is an industry leader in discovering and commercialising natural and semi-synthetic crop protection products. These include spinosad (Entrust® SC Naturalyte® Insect Control, Conserve® SC speciality insecticide, Tracer® insecticide, and Success® Naturalyte® Insect Control) and spinetoram (Radiant® SC, Delegate® WG, Exalt™ SC, and Endure™ insecticides). According to Dow, both products are market-leading active ingredients in the spinosyns family of chemistry that are derived through fermentation and serve as important tools for controlling insects in crops.
"This collaboration will allow us to combine the expertise and capabilities of Dow AgroSciences with Radiant''s proprietary technologies to accelerate our industry-recognised natural products discovery programme, building on our commitment to sustainable solutions," said Daniel R. Kittle, the vice-president of research and development at Dow AgroSciences.
Radiant Genomics''s technology will help to enhance Dow AgroSciences'' natural product lead generation and optimisation process.
"Radiant is delighted to be working with Dow AgroSciences and is looking forward to combining our leading-edge meta-genomic natural product discovery platform with Dow AgroSciences'' world-class expertise and infrastructure in search of novel crop protection products," said Dr. Jeffrey Kim, the chief scientific officer of Radiant Genomics.