Consolidation to accelerate the development of new molecules in the crop protection market.
The recent trend is the conclusion of contracts between the largest companies and small innovative biotechnological companies in the field of HSRZ.
Bayer + Enko
For example, Bayer partnered with Enko to accelerate the development of new active ingredients, as plants, insects and pathogens quickly develop resistance to them.
Using pharmaceutical technology, DNA-encoding libraries, machine learning and structural biology, more than 120 billion molecules can be quickly evaluated.
The resulting molecules bind to pest targets, making them more effective in fewer quantities and without interacting with the environment.
In addition, the creation of active substances using this technology does not require many years and large resources.
Syngenta + Enko
By signing a contract with Enko, Syngenta is betting on artificial intelligence. Such technologies will make it possible to select compounds that, on the one hand, will be effective in combating the target pest, and, on the other hand, will not be toxic to the environment.
The algorithms themselves will develop optimal formulas and pathways to create active ingredients, which will halve the time for scientific and technical research and develop affordable products for small farmers in Africa, South America and Asia.
Due to climate change, these countries are more susceptible to the adverse effects of pests than others, and they are insufficiently provided with modern means of protection.
Syngenta + Insilico Medicine
Insilico Medicine manufactures artificial intelligence software.
In 2019, the algorithm of the company’s own technology made it possible to create a stable molecule for the treatment of fibrosis in 21 days (the total operating time was 46 days). The cost was $ 150,000.
At the same time, the traditional method by which similar molecules were developed cost Genentech millions of dollars and lasted 8 years.
The agreement between Syngenta and Insilico Medicine is exclusive. Thus, Insilico Medicine will not work with other crop protection companies.
A single platform built for collaboration processes huge volumes of information from journals, academic and professional research, generating new solutions.
The amount of simultaneously analyzed data and the variety of results are simply impossible to obtain in a standard way.
In addition, the platform allows for multiple optimizations at the same time: improves the molecular development process, takes into account non-target toxicity and environmental impact.
This will save at least 20% of the time during the research phase, and now it is 5-7 years.
