In today’s episode, we’re following a molecule around the world, from being discovered in Japan to being developed in the United States to becoming a solution for farmers in the United Kingdom. Joining us is one of those farmers in the UK, Julian Gibbons. Julian has seen a variety of fungicide solutions come and go for important wheat diseases like Septoria tritici, or speckled leaf blotch. He’s really excited about the potential for a relatively newly registered product derived from a natural compound called Inatreq Active™. And the story of the need for Inatreq and the road to getting this product to farmers is the focus of today’s episode.
Kevin Meyer, Ph.D., a discovery chemist for 26 years at Corteva, will give us the behind-the-scenes look at how Inatreq was initially discovered and developed, then shelved, only to be brought back from the archives with a new approach to turning some fascinating science into a solution farmers like Julian can use.
“ With this new product concept in hand, we were like, "’Okay, if we can make a fungicide with this, you know, to control Septoria tritici in wheat, it probably is gonna end up controlling other things, but we can make a product out of that.’ …And the first time I ever heard that, I turned to a coworker of mine down the biology department and I said, ‘I know a molecule that does that. We should look at that again.’ And that was UK-2A …and we found one of those pro drug molecules that worked really, really well. We brought it out to the field, controlled Septoria really well.” - Kevin Meyer, Ph.D.
“ It does what it says. It's good control. We've never had as a product to actually use, we've never had an issue with it or anything like that. And it diversifies our control.” - Julian Gibbons
Takeaways from today’s episode:
- You never know where the next mode of action is going to come from. It’s so important that companies like Corteva Agriscience are constantly investing in the discovery process to try to find molecules like UK-2A that will help farmers diversify their approaches.
- It’s not as simple as just finding a molecule. The story of UK-2A shows how tedious and burdensome and in some cases frustrating the process can be. It’s no wonder why it takes so much time and investment to come up these novel solutions
- The importance of formulation. The active ingredients get a lot of the spotlight because they are what gives us the outcomes we want, but Kevin is exactly right: it’s the formulation that will make or break a product. I wonder how many promising active ingredients don’t make it to commercialization because the formulation wasn’t quite right. Seems like a lot of opportunity here as well.
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
What is Agriscience Explained?
This is Agriscience Explained: from science to solutions. A podcast brought to you by Corteva Agriscience. Host Tim Hammerich visits with both scientists and farmers about how agricultural innovations are discovered, developed and deployed on the farm.
Farming is a business, profit is never guaranteed. To manage risk and give the crop the best possible chance of success, farmers rely on the latest in management practices, and some really cutting edge science. We call it agriscience. This study brings together biology, chemistry, agronomy, ecology, physics, genetics, data science and numerous other fields to find the best possible solutions for farmers.
It’s complex, and it’s changing fast. The stakes have never been higher to equip farmers with the best possible tools for a productive, profitable and sustainable crop.