Manus Bio and STK Bio-Ag Technologies announce partnership to develop and commercialize pipeline of next-generation biopesticides

Date:07-30-2020

Manus Bio Inc. (Manus Bio), a leader in the production of complex natural products through advanced bio-fermentation, and STK Bio-Ag Technologies (STK), an innovator of botanical and ‘hybrid’ crop protection solutions, are announcing a collaboration agreement to develop and commercialize a series of natural plant-based active ingredients as new and highly-efficacious biopesticide products.

The first active ingredient in development by the collaboration has demonstrated potent efficacy for insect control across multiple classes of pests that commonly impact fruit, vegetable, and row crops.  As this active ingredient is of low abundance in nature, a major challenge has been to produce at the scale and economics required for deployment as a commercial crop protection solution.  Manus Bio is using its advanced bio-fermentation platform and industrial manufacturing capabilities to develop a robust production process to supply this and other ingredients at the volumes and costs required to enable widespread use as biopesticides.  STK will apply its unique expertise in advanced plant science and bio-ag solutions to enable the development and commercialization of these new cutting-edge botanical - based solutions worldwide.  

Dr. Ajikumar Parayil, Chief Executive Officer of Manus Bio commented, “We were attracted to STK because of their track record of successfully developing sustainable natural products for agricultural applications, which is an excellent fit for our high-performing microbial natural products chassis and the extensive manufacturing capacity in our Augusta, GA facility.  We are excited to work together with STK to address the growing demand for powerful bio-actives for sustainable agricultural applications.” 

“Manus has proven capabilities in the large-scale production of complex natural ingredients.  We are thrilled to be working with Manus Bio to bring this innovative active to become the basis for a family of new solutions for the benefit of farmers dealing with the growing need for sustainable farming,” said Arye Tenenbaum, CEO of STK.  “We believe that this novel active ingredient will help us realize a paradigm shift in sustainable food protection towards healthier, high quality, residue-free food.”

Manus Bio will be the exclusive supplier to STK for this first key ingredient as they work together to commercialize this proprietary and patented STK product.

Manus Bio's Augusta, GA Manufacturing Facility