Jul 13, 2018

Vestaron’s SPEAR-T bioinsecticide set for greenhouse applications

Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Vestaron, a company dedicated to improving the safety, efficacy and sustainability of crop protection through migration from chemical pesticides to biologic peptides, has fully launched and made availabke its SPEAR-T bioinsecticide, following final EPA approval this month of its manufacturing process for a liquid formulation.

SPEAR-T is an insect control solution – providing the efficacy of a synthetic with the safety and toxicity profile of a biologic. It has a zero-day pre-harvest interval and is designed to be non-toxic to mammals, birds, fish, honeybees and other beneficial insects. It can also be used with regular fogging / spraying equipment.

The company said Initial target pests are thrips, whiteflies and spider mites. SPEAR-T is one of very few pesticides – and the only biologic – that can control spider mites as well as insect pests. The company also has a development program underway for aphids and spotted wing drosophila.

“The last key step to full commercialization was the EPA approval of our manufacturing process,” said Anna Rath, Vestaron’s new Chief Executive Officer. “We are excited to advance SPEAR-T to full commercial status.”

Isagro USA has been granted distribution rights in the United States for greenhouse vegetable applications. Additional distribution rights for the greenhouse market will be announced soon. Isagro USA will apply its distribution and sales expertise to sell SPEAR-T to address the needs of the greenhouse grower.

According to John Paul Du Pre, Executive Chairman of Isagro USA: “Growers have shown great interest in SPEAR-T, and we are pleased to be filling the distribution pipeline with this highly desired bioinsecticide, which fits the profile of the entire Isagro USA biosolutions portfolio of crop protection and nutrient products.”

Vestaron’s Rath added that another product from this peptide family of products is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2019, designed for producers of fruits, vegetables and other high-value field crops to control Lepidopteran pests.

Vestaron is a company dedicated to improving the safety, efficacy and sustainability of crop protection through migration from chemical pesticides to biological peptides. Vestaron is initially focused on a class of peptides that kill insect pests efficiently, but are safe for humans, birds, fish and the environment. As part of this, the company has developed fermentation-based peptide production and insect resistant crop platform that will allow it to develop a wide variety of biologic crop protection and trait products. Vestaron is the winner of the inaugural 2015 Bernard Blum Award for novel biocontrol solutions.

More information at www.vestaron.com

Isagro USA, Inc. is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carlina (Research Triangle Park) and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Isagro S.p.A., based in Milan, Italy. Isagro S.p.A. is a global discoverer, manufacturer, formulator and marketer of crop protection products with a portfolio based on proprietary molecules coming from its own R&D unit. Besides its presence in the U.S., Isagro holds subsidiaries in some key markets and serves customers in approximately 80 countries.

For more information, visit www.isagro-usa.com and www.isagro.com.