River Bioscience Registers Patented Virus
13 July 2023 River Bioscience, in collaboration with research institutes Citrus Research International and the
Centre for Biocontrol, initiated the development of the Cryptophlebia peltastica
nucleopolyhedrovirus (CrpeNPV) in 2011. Over the course of 12 years, significant progress has been made with this technology. The CrpeNPV’s unique mode of action and broad target range has led to the granting of patents, providing Intellectual Property (IP) protection in key markets.
Furthermore, several peer-reviewed papers have been published, highlighting the CrpeNPV’s
significance in the European pome and stone fruit market. Notably, it has proven highly effective against codling moth populations that have developed resistance to existing commercial CpGv isolates.
To facilitate commercialization, a partnership has been established with Oro Agri and Rovensa Next. This collaboration aims to bring products containing CrpeNPV to the European market, with the potential to expand distribution rights to North America. The registration process for these products has been underway in Europe for some time now.
Another major opportunity for the CrpeNPV to have a significant impact is in sub-Saharan Africa where Macadamia growers face the challenge of managing three separate tortricid pests simultaneously. In the past growers needed to rely on broad-spectrum synthetic chemistry to manage these target pests, however, the product MultiMax (CrpeNPV) was recently approved by the South African regulator for use on Macadamias targeting false codling moth, macadamia nut borer, and litchi moth and false codling moth on litchis.
MultiMax will provide growers with an additional tool in their IPM toolbox to manage both economic and phytosanitary pests whilst enabling the reduction in the use of chemicals and lower overall residues on these important export crops. It is anticipated that market development in other African countries where MultiMax is applicable will continue to progress through the collaboration agreement between River Bioscience and Dudutech (a Bioline Agrosciences company).
A second CrpeNPV registration, CodlMax, for the management of codling moth in pome fruit was also approved by the South African regulator. This product will play a key role in preventing the development of resistance to CpGv in Southern Africa.
River Bioscience, a grower-owned company focusing on the development of sustainable inputs for high-value crops is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. With the first registrations of products containing the CrpeNPV being approved it marks the start of the next phase of continuing to drive our mission and objective to be one of the leaders in the development, production, and commercialization of baculovirus-based products.
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