Agricoltura
Moa develops groundbreaking category of crop protection; signs partnership deal with Gowan
Moa's discovery also offers an exciting new pathway for biologicals to play more of a role in agricultural weed control in coming years. Bioherbicides are still one of the smallest sub-sectors in the biologicals space, due to the difficulty of finding natural products capable of controlling weeds safely, affordably and effectively. Amplifiers offer the possibility of biological-synthetic hybrid solutions which can protect harvests with a reduced environmental impact.
Moa's first collaboration partner in this exciting new category of products will be the Gowan Company, a leading US agricultural solutions business based in Yuma, AZ. Gowan will make a significant investment involving upfront payments and future value creation sharing through milestone payments and royalties, to see Moa and Gowan working together to develop a new amplifier for a specific active ingredient. Both companies recognise the significant market opportunity for this new crop protection category, given the global need to find ways of making farming more sustainable and less harmful to the environment, while also ensuring food security for all.
A Moa amplifier is currently in pilot field trials in Australia to evaluate how it may help reduce herbicide use rates against annual ryegrass ( ), one of the toughest, most damaging, and hardest to control weeds in the world. Weeds currently cost Australian grain producers A$3.3 billion annually in yield losses and control expenses, according to Weedsmart, and farmers urgently need solutions to help protect their harvests until a new generation of safe and effective novel modes of action can be brought to market. Other amplifier pilot field trials with cereal grassweeds are also taking place in the UK where glyphosate resistance was recently discovered for the first time in Italian ryegrass ( ), which is one of the most damaging weeds in western European farming.
Moa CEO Dr Virginia Corless , said: "We are excited to discover this entirely new category of weed control solutions to help solve a real and immediate problem for farmers and the environment globally. Our groundbreaking technology platforms and proprietary data are continuing to produce valuable new insights and discoveries at the forefront of plant science, creating new opportunities, solutions and revenue streams for ourselves and for ambitious and forward-looking industry partners like Gowan."
Laurent Cornette , Global Herbicide Asset Manager at Gowan, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to embark on this exciting new project with Moa. This collaboration holds potential for groundbreaking scientific advancements in agriculture. Together with Moa's scientists, we're pioneering innovative solutions for highly efficient weed control at minimal active ingredient rates—empowering farmers with sustainable tools for the future. The possibilities are inspiring, and I have no doubt this partnership will drive transformative benefits for the agricultural community."
Spun out of Oxford University in 2017, Moa has developed proprietary technology to discover a whole new generation of synthetic and bio-herbicidal compounds based on novel modes of action, providing farmers with safe, cost-effective, technologically-advanced solutions at a pace weeds cannot match. In the last three years, Moa's platform has already screened over 830,000 compounds and discovered over 80 promising novel modes of action areas. In July 2024, Moa signed a major partnership with Nufarm to co-develop and commercialise one of these novel chemical series.
Gowan Group is a global, family-owned agriculture solutions business headquartered in Yuma, AZ, U.S.A. Gowan specialises in developing, marketing, and manufacturing global agriculture inputs such as crop protection products, seeds, and fertilizers. Gowan began in 1962 as a local crop consultancy business helping growers identify the right crop protection solutions to help their farms thrive. Today, Gowan has over 45 entities in 19 countries and sales in over 70 countries. Across the world, the Gowan Tribe strives to understand the needs of local markets and provide solutions to critical pest problems. Using sound science and the coordination of regulatory, marketing, and sales expertise, Gowan then brings products to market that are essential for growers.
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