Trana Discovery and Bayer collaborate to develop novel fungicides

Trana Discovery, Inc., Cary, North Carolina, USA recently announced a collaboration agreement with Bayer to discover and validate new fungicides to protect food crops against plant diseases responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in annual crop losses worldwide. Trana Discovery identifies molecules that inhibit the target pathogen(s) ability to use an organism-specific RNA molecule essential for fungal propagation.

The technology platform developed by Trana Discovery is the basis to discover novel targets for antifungal compounds that inhibit an RNA molecule specific to a targeted pathogen. This RNA molecule is essential for normal pathogen replication and compounds that can block the function of this molecule have the potential to be developed into new antifungals.

“Development of this new class of fungicides possessing a profile of targeted elimination of the harmful fungi while sparing beneficial organisms will give Bayer an industry leading approach to pesticide application,” said Steve Peterson, Chief Executive Officer of Trana Discovery.

Plants are exposed to a wide range of both biotic and abiotic stresses which have a significant impact on world agriculture. Trana Discovery has already successfully demonstrated its discovery technology.  This agreement allows Trana Discovery and Bayer to leverage their combined knowledge to develop innovative solutions which increase agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner.

About Trana Discovery, Inc.

Trana Discovery provides a proprietary anti-infective discovery technology platform that enables its partners to discover new treatments of bacterial, viral, and fungal infectious diseases. The company’s assays screen compounds to identify potential anti-infective candidates that work through a novel mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen(s) ability to use an organism-specific transfer RNA (tRNA), essential for propagation. The company is located in Cary, North Carolina.