Development of biopesticides and future opportunities for SMEs

 

Bionema (https://bionema.com/) is a biopesticide technology developer, based out of Swansea University, Wales. The six­year­old business is developing chemical free pest control systems, using microorganisms (fungi, bacteria and nematodes) to protect crops from insect damage. We caught up with Founder and CEO, Dr Minshad A. Ansari, to find out more.

 

The original idea came about a long way back. Previously I was an academic working across India, Belgium, and the UK. After 2005 I was working at Swansea University, UK. I was visiting growers and farmers and always being asked 'How can we control pests and diseases better without chemicals?'. It was definitely inspiring, making me think, 'Can we have something non­toxic and better than the chemical pesticides which they are using?'. I developed my thinking around the idea but didn't really have the resources to take it to where I wanted. So, in 2012, we spun the company out of the university, with Swansea University taking a 10% shareholding. In fact, Swansea and the Welsh government have been very supportive. They have both invested in the company. Along with my own time and money, investment has been about £1.0 million to date. We just raised £500,000 equity investment, led by an overseas private investor with co-investment from the Development Bank of Wales, Swansea Innovations, Swansea University, and existing investors as part of the product development (https://businessnewswales.com/swansea-university-based-biotech-company-raises-500000/). More recently company received grant funding of £766,000 from Innovate UK for developing a novel formulation of biopesticide. 

 

 

Chemical pesticides have been used to control pests and diseases for over 100 years. But there are very real repercussions in terms of polluting the environment and causing human health issues like brain hemorrhage, birth defects etc. This is all from published data.
 

Our solutions are 100% natural biopesticides. Our highely effectively nematode solution is already on the market, then growth in AgriTech proposal is based on an insect killing fungus. Chemicals kill insect pests directly and leave residue in fruits and vegetables, whereas this fungus causes disease to the insect and it dies within 24­-48 hours without entering the food chain. So, job done.

 

This is a naturally occurring fungus which you find in soil. You usually find it in untouched soil that has not been cultivated or treated in any way, for example, in natural forests. We'll collect the soil, analyse it and start isolating any fungi or nematodes that we could develop for pest control.

 

This fungus is an obligate parasite and only infects insects and nothing else, not humans, not other animals. The fungi also reproduce while on the host and these spores mix with the soil, targeting any fresh hatchlings. But without new hosts to feed off, the fungus won't reproduce, simplifying product registration.

 

 

Sometimes you really have a brilliant product but there's no market.

 

At a national and EU level, governments want to reduce the use of chemical pesticides. Some of these chemicals are now being phased out or banned and we have a product that can fill the gap immediately. On top of that, consumer demand is increasingly going towards the more organic approach.

 

The project we are working on here is looking to control a pest called western flower thrips (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_flower_thrips). The thrips attack many different plants, including high value crops. For example, it causes approximately £50m damage to UK strawberry and sunflower crops each year. Worldwide, the damage to crops is US$7bn. But it has become resistant to currently used chemical insecticides. Currently, growers have limited products for this pest. This is just one single pest we are talking about – there are several more out there and no biological product to control them.

 

Altogether, this means we are bringing in a new product which has a real value in the market.

 

 

The big chemical companies are mostly focused on the traditional chemical products. I would say that currently, chemical control accounts for 90% of the market. Smaller companies are either developing or attracting to launch similar products but with limited efficacy.  Growth in biopesticides is now 4-­5 times higher than growth in chemical pesticides. So, things are changing.

 

Hopefully, in a few years' time, you'll see a number of products registered here in the EU. The US registration process is much more liberal – you can get your product registered within about a year for $100,000. But here, you are looking for £2­-3 million and it takes about 3­-5 years. That makes it a difficult decision for any investor. The multi­national has the advantage here in terms of manufacture and supply. That's why we're looking to work with a large organisation such as Johnson Matthey either in a partnership such as this or with a future licensing deal to secure future capacity and streamline the route to market.

 

 

There are a number of products in our portfolio. Where you don't require registration, we have already developed that product. So, in the past year, we developed nine beneficial nematode based products for the horticulture, turf & amenities and forestry sectors. We also developed five products for the home & garden market. Unlike competitor products we have formulated a directly compatible accelerator which tests have shown increase efficacy by 20-30%.

 

These products are in the market and we have discussions ongoing on with a few distributors in the UK and other EU countries. Our partners are taking the product to the market and our turnover is increasing. From turnover two years ago of £22,000 we grew nearly 400% to £80,000 last year. This year, we're forecasting over £200,000 and £500,000 for next, including EU sales.

 

Things are really moving now, especially compared to five years or six years back when basically, I was just working all alone. There was no money for a salary. If you put it on a graph, we've got a nice straight line going up!

 

 

Resources and manpower. If you don't have these, you can't accelerate your research or push your product further. If you don't have the manpower, then basically you are just working alone, and it will take forever. Somebody else will take your idea and they will be able to commercialise it quicker than you can. You have to be able to commercialise – or at least patent – your technology as quickly as possible.

 

 

It was a nice surprise to get onto JMAPP! JM are a very large and prestigious organisation who will be able to help us get the technology proven. I'm optimistic because early indicators are very positive. We want to get this piece of work done and then hopefully use JM's expertise to get the patent filed registration and the product launched. 

 

 

I think in 5 years' time we will be working as a technology developer across a wide range of biopesticide solutions.  We will be selling or licensing our technologies to a range of multinational businesses, earning a healthy return for our investors an continuing to invest in bringing new and innovative solutions to the AgriTech market.