Oxitec Launches New Technology Program to Develop a Friendly™ Solution for the World’s Most Damaging Cattle Tick

Oxitec Ltd, the leading developer of insect-based biological solutions to control pests that transmit disease, destroy crops and harm livestock, today announced the launch of development of a targeted, biological Friendly™ solution for the world’s most devastating cattle pest, the Asian blue tick, or Rhipicephalus microplus. In a feasibility project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Oxitec’s team validated the key methods for development of a Friendly™ R. microplus, and found that, for management of this dangerous tick, this biological approach is anticipated to provide a highly effective alternative to chemical pesticides. The Foundation has now committed $4.8 million to an early development phase to start to build the Friendly™ R. microplus solution, Oxitec’s first targeting a non-insect pest.

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