5Metis advances banana black sigatoka control

5Metis, Inc. announced a multi-year, $5.5 million, Phase III grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to further advance its banana black sigatoka control product. Banana black sigatoka, also known as black leaf streak (BLS), is the most damaging foliar pathogen of bananas and plantains worldwide. Many smallholder farmers rely on these crops for both sustenance and income, and BLS can reduce yield by 50% or more, severely threatening grower livelihoods across sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

In multiple field trials across several continents, the 5Metis product has controlled BLS at rates 5- to 50-fold lower than current commercial standards and requires less frequent applications. With its new mode of action, it will break resistance among BLS strains that are becoming increasingly difficult to control. Overall, 5Metis anticipates that its product will reduce chemical load in the environment by more than 95%.

Development of the 5Metis product has been supported by the Gates Foundation through two previous grants, and this Phase III grant will help advance it toward registration submission. ″We are appreciative of the support that the foundation has provided over the years and for its shared vision of a safe, efficacious product to control this devastating disease,″ said Brian Green, PhD, CEO and CSO of 5Metis.

The BLS control product is just one of several that have been identified to date from 5Metis’ novel mode of action discovery platform, based on combining boron chemistry and natural product expertise. In addition to its BLS control product, 5Metis has novel mode of action compounds with field-demonstrated control of wheat Septoria and rice blast, along with programs targeting Asian soybean rust, oomycetes of concern for high value fruit and vegetable cultivation, and other important plant pathogen targets.

″5Metis has demonstrated remarkable efficiency in discovering and developing new modes of action,″ continued Dr. Green, ″and we look forward to continuing to work with the Gates Foundation and channel partners to move our programs toward commercialization.″