Sumitomo to Use Toxicogenomics to Develop Agrochemicals

Sumitomo Chemical said it plans to effectively apply toxicogenomics to enhance its development of agricultural chemicals in the medium and long terms.

The Tokyo-based company intends to use toxicogenomics, which involves the collection and analysis of information regarding genetic and protein activity in the cells of organisms in reaction to toxic substances, to assess the toxicity of its candidate agricultural chemicals so that it can efficiently develop products that are high in safety and efficacy.

Sumitomo has established a code of ethics for the use of induced pluripotent stem cells and embryonic stem cells in toxicogenomic testing, and recently obtained relevant approvals. It said that the use of these stem cells would be beneficial in shortening the time need for the development of agricultural chemicals, by improving evaluation accuracy, and aid in its quest to solve the food-supply problems that are likely to arise in the future in tandem with global population growth. It also is looking to develop fertilizers that can production to alleviate food shortages.

The initiative combines its Environmental Health Science Laboratory’s technical expertise in toxicity testing and its Genomic Science Laboratories’ knowledge of genomics. The Genomic Science Laboratories was established in 2000 jointly with Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals, which is now Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma.

Sumitomo said that it currently has an ample product-development pipeline, with enough candidate compounds to last over the next several years, but that keeping the pipeline filled is essential because the development and commercialization of a new agrochemical normally takes 10-15 years. 
 
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