Jan. 21, 2025
Australia’s national science agency, the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), and Oxitec Ltd, the leading developer of biological solutions to control pests that transmit disease and threaten food security, has announced the launch of Oxitec Australia, a new venture that will position Australia as an innovative leader in next-generation sustainable pest management to advance regional biosecurity and public health.
This new partnership combines CSIRO’s scientific leadership and Oxitec’s proven technology platform and expertise in developing and commercializing next-generation biological solutions to combat critical pest threats. It was formed to bring novel biosecurity solutions to some of the biggest pest challenges impacting Australia and wider Oceania.
Climate change, invasive species and growing pesticide resistance are driving new challenges in Australia and worldwide, including the unprecedented rise of mosquito-transmitted dengue fever globally. 2024 has already surpassed the worst year for dengue cases on record. In Australia, the World Health Organization reports dengue cases this year are approximately 2 times higher than in 2023.
Oxitec’s Friendly™ platform is the largest innovation platform globally for the development of safe, sustainable biological pest solutions. Oxitec’s core technology uses ‘good insects’ to fight ‘bad insects’, directly targeting the vector, without leaving a trace on ecosystems. Friendly™ males are deployed in communities or on farms to mate with wild-type female pest counterparts. Their female offspring cannot survive, meaning fewer pests in the following generations. Oxitec produces Friendly™ males only because only female mosquitoes are capable of biting and spreading disease.
To help combat the growing threat of the dengue-transmitting Aedes aegypti in Australia, Oxitec Australia is starting with Oxitec’s ″just-add-water″ Friendly™ Aedes aegypti mosquito solution. This innovative product allows for the deployment of Friendly™ non-biting male mosquitoes using simple devices easily deployed by governments, companies, and communities to help control this dengue vector. This solution is proven to suppress urban populations of Aedes aegypti by up to 96% and is now serving city governments, businesses and communities across Brazil, and is currently undergoing review by Australia’s Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) prior to commercial release.
Oxitec Australia is also developing an Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) solution, with funding from CSIRO, to help prevent a major invasion risk to mainland Australia.
The new venture is already working with local communities in the Torres Strait affected by this mosquito and dengue outbreaks, with the aim of supporting their deployment of this technology in impacted regions.
Grey Frandsen, CEO of Oxitec, said the launch of Oxitec Australia is a bold, strategic initiative to combat the region's most pressing invasive pest challenges and is a demonstration of what can be done when innovators come together to solve big challenges.
″In collaboration with Indigenous communities, leading scientific institutions, industry partners and farmers, we’re committed to transforming how pest threats to health, food security and ecosystems are addressed,″ Mr Frandsen said. ″In doing so, we aim to not only protect lives, livelihoods and biodiversity, but also empower communities to take the lead in addressing their pest challenges."
Professor Brett Sutton, Director of Health & Biosecurity at CSIRO, said Oxitec Australia is forming new partnerships to accelerate its activities and product development in Australia and the Oceania region.
″Oxitec Australia offers a unique opportunity to help combat the growing threat of invasive and exotic pests, some of which are on mainland Australia’s doorstep like Aedes albopictus,″ Professor Sutton said. ″Factors like climate change and growing pesticide resistance will only bring greater challenges to the health of Australians and our region via vector-borne diseases. By investing in new and innovative solutions that complement existing control programs, we can reduce the public health impacts of these exotic and invasive mosquito species.″
Oxitec Australia is also working to address pests threatening crops, such as the fall armyworm caterpillar. First detected in Australia in 2020, this invasive pest can be difficult to control. Oxitec Australia will bring to Australia a Friendly™ fall armyworm product, which is commercially approved in Brazil, with the aim of providing Australian farmers with a targeted solution for this invasive, devastating crop pest.
Friendly™ solutions do not pose any threat to humans or the environment. Because it works through species-specific mating, and is non-toxic, Friendly™ product technology controls the target pest without harming beneficial species like bees and butterflies, or predators like birds and bats. The genetic technology is self-limiting, meaning that when releases of Friendly™ males stop, the introduced genes that they carry slowly disappear, eventually leaving no environmental footprint.
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