Sumitomo, IVCC work jointly to fight against insecticide resistant mosquitoes

Sumitomo Chemical and the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) are working closely together in developing a new insecticide-impregnated mosquito net to address the growing problem of insecticide resistant mosquitoes.

Every year, an estimated 200 million people worldwide are stricken by malaria, of which 650,000 people die from the disease. As malaria is transmitted to humans when bitten by mosquitoes that have been infected with malaria parasites, the use of insecticidal mosquito nets is recommended as an economical and effective preventive measure. The effects of the bed nets have been already demonstrated as is known from the fact that malaria cases have been declining in number in those regions where mosquito nets are widely used. On the other hand, an increasing number of findings are also reported in certain regions that mosquitoes are showing resistance to pyrethroid insecticides that are used in the mosquito nets.

Over many years, Sumitomo Chemical has been supplying its Olyset® Net (active ingredient: permethrin), an insecticidal mosquito net developed with the company's proprietary technology, to countries in Africa and other areas that are suffering heavily from malaria. Olyset® Net is the first net endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2001 as a long-lasting insecticidal net, and it has been contributing significantly to promoting the enhanced prevention of malaria. In 2011, Sumitomo Chemical took another step forward by initiating a development project with the IVCC on a new long lasting bed net in which a combination of specific active ingredients is impregnated so as to work effectively against pyrethroid resistant mosquitoes. It is anticipated that this product, known as Olyset® Duo, will be commercially available within the next few years as a valuable new tool to overcome the growing challenges of insecticide resistance.

Going forward, Sumitomo Chemical and the IVCC will also be working jointly on the development of new insecticides that will be effective against malaria-transmitting mosquitoes.

IVCC CEO Janet Hemingway said, “We are delighted to have Sumitomo as a partner, they are a major innovator in bed net technology with demonstrated long-term commitment to this market.”

Ray Nishimoto, Managing Executive Officer of Sumitomo Chemical, said, "Sumitomo Chemical is proud of the benefits that our pioneering Olyset® Net is offering to the world. Bed nets cannot stop malaria entirely, but it is evident that this simple, durable tool has saved many, many lives over the last ten years. Looking to the decades ahead, we will remain firmly committed to staying competitive and innovative in the global vector control market as we provide effective tools toward realizing a malaria-free world.”

Sumitomo Chemical will continue to develop and market more effective measures to prevent malaria through a comprehensive approach that centers on Olyset® Net, and Olyset® Duo when it becomes available as well as new insecticides currently under development.