RNA bioinsecticide candidates from AgroSpheres and FMC enter key field trials against $14B pest threat

Two RNA bioinsecticide candidates developed by AgroSpheres and FMC Corporation have entered global field trials in the United States, Brazil and Asia, the companies announced on September 17. The move shifts the program from discovery into testing under commercial growing conditions.

The candidates target lepidopteran pests including fall armyworm and diamondback moth. Major moth and caterpillar species account for nearly $14 billion a year in global crop losses and control costs, according to the companies. The biomolecules came out of a collaboration first announced in 2024.

Before advancing, the candidates went through laboratory, greenhouse and small-plot testing, where they were benchmarked against industry-standard chemistries and met or exceeded those benchmarks, AgroSpheres said. The field phase will test them across different crops, climates and pest pressures, and as partners to conventional insecticides in resistance-management programs.

The technology rests on AgroSpheres’ biomodality platform, which designs RNA molecules that act on specific biological pathways in a target pest, and its AgriCell delivery system, which protects the active and controls its release. Field durability has long been the hurdle for sprayable RNA, since unprotected molecules break down quickly in sunlight.

Seva Rostovtsev, FMC’s chief technology officer, said field trials are where promising technologies show their real-world potential. The trials add to a crowded biologicals pipeline, following Syngenta’s protozoan-based biocontrol deal with Amoéba. Neither company has given a commercial launch date.

Source: Global Agriculture