Agragene Selected for USDA Grand Challenge and FFAR Grants to Combat New World Screwworm

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Agragene announces funding from the USDA New World Screwworm Grand Challenge and from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research. The grants were awarded through competitive processes by both USDA and FFAR with the former involving hundreds of submissions. Both grants are designed to facilitate additional research on the company’s novel insect sterility technology.

Agragene uses precision-guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT) to deliver healthy, sterile male flies to mate with wild female screwworm.

Bryan Witherbee, CEO of Agragene, says the technology has demonstrated the ability to deliver significant impact in reducing other invasive pest populations.

“Agragene is excited for the opportunity to develop its pgSIT technology to address New World screwworm. In talking with ranchers, it’s clear they need improved tools. The technology offers a cost-effective, scalable platform to bring healthy sterile males to combat this devastating insect.” Witherbee also notes, “Agragene’s experience in pgSIT development and regulatory work will be a key advantage to bring this technology forward rapidly.”

Dr. Omar S. Akbari, co-founder of Agragene and Tata Chancellor’s Endowed Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California San Diego, who developed the technology, said:

“These awards provide an important opportunity to accelerate development of next-generation genetic biocontrol technologies for New World screwworm. The resurgence of this devastating pest underscores the urgent need for new tools that can complement existing control strategies. Our precision-guided sterile insect technique, or pgSIT, uses CRISPR-based genetics to produce healthy, sterile males that remain competitive for mates in the wild, with the potential to improve the efficiency and scalability of future screwworm control programs.”

Agragene was selected as a collaborator on projects led by Dr. Max Scott of North Carolina State University and Dr. Molly Duman Scheel of the Indiana University School of Medicine and the University of Notre Dame Eck Institute for Global Health.

About Agragene: Agragene is the leading global company focusing on delivering pgSIT technology to address invasive insect challenges around the world and holds novel intellectual property for this technology and field.