Sumitomo Chemical and IVCC start on-the-spot tests of novel insecticide for mosquito control

Sumitomo Chemical and IVCC, an international nonprofit organization, will jointly start on-the-spot tests in Africa of a new insecticide active ingredient for use in the fight against the mosquitoes that transmit malaria and other infectious diseases.

The new insecticide has a novel mode of action different from those of existing insecticides for malaria control. The safety and efficacy of this new product against mosquitoes that are resistant to existing insecticides have been already demonstrated by laboratory based studies.

Malaria is an infectious disease that is transmitted to humans when the anopheles mosquito infected with the malaria parasite bites a person. Every year, an estimated 200 million people worldwide are stricken down by malaria, of which some 580,000 people die from the disease. Malaria cases have been significantly declining in number with the widespread use of long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets, such as Sumitomo Chemical’s Olyset® Net, as well as indoor residual sprays.

On the other hand, primarily in certain parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, the emergence of mosquitoes that are resistant to existing insecticides has been observed. Currently, four classes of insecticide are recommended for use by the World Health Organization for malaria prevention, and no new classes of insecticide for this purpose have been introduced in the past 40 years, which is a factor behind the problem of some mosquito populations growing resistant to existing insecticides. The new insecticide on which Sumitomo Chemical and IVCC are working is expected to help solve the problem of insecticide resistance.