BioProspect claims success in termite trial

The tract of bushland near Narrandera, in southern NSW, where Brisbane natural pesticide developer BioProspect (ASX:BPO) is field-trialling its promising termiticide AP778 teems with voracious termites.

"If you went onto the site wearing clogs, you'd come out with bare feet," says BioProspect CEO Selwyn Snell, with a hint of hyperbole.

Radiata pine stakes are like prime steaks to termites, and some of the untreated pine stakes stuck in the ground around the site were gnawed to the ground within a few months of the trial beginning. But the AP778-treated stakes remain untouched after nearly 12 months in the soil. Termite species Coptotermes acinaciformis, C. frenchii and Nasutitermes exitiosus find AP778 utterly repellent.

The next, and most important, test will come in the next few months when BioProspect's compound goes head-to-head with the ravening insect that, with Cyclone Tracy, convinced Darwin residents of the virtues of steel-framed houses: Mastotermes darwiniensis, the world's largest, and most destructive termite.

If that trial is a success, Snell says BioProspect will then apply to the national regulator, the Australian Veterinary and Pesticides Management Authority, to register AP778 for commercial use in Australia, and internationally. A US$3 billion market for an effective, non-toxic, environmentally benign termiticide can't wait.

The Narrandera field trials are being supervised by University of Western Sydney entomologist Prof Robert Spooner-Hart and BioProspect's R&D team leader Matt Kealley.

Spooner-Hart has reported that the results of the field trial have validated the successful laboratory trial with the compound, a small molecule extracted from the wood of a still-secret tree species from the dry tropics of north Queensland.

The molecule was identified as the source of the extraordinary durability of a 100-year-old wooden-posted fence found standing, weather-beaten and rusted, but otherwise undamaged, in the middle of termite country in the state's outback.

In the Narrandera trial, Spooner-Hart's team set 134 pine stakes, each 30cm long, to a depth of 20cm in the soil. For comparative purposes, some of the stakes were treated with the standard copper-chrome-arsenate (CCA) preservative, and others were left untreated.

Despite drought in the area, termites remained extremely active. Of the untreated stakes, 36 per cent were damaged, and 16 per cent were chewed off at soil level. Both the AP778 and CCA-treated stakes remained completely free of damage.

CCA is being phased out as a timber preservative, and toxic organochlorine and organophospate treatments are no longer permitted in the building industry because of their environmental persistence and toxicity.

Snell says this has left the building industry without effective termite protection, and damage levels have risen sharply since the early 1990s, and are now conservatively estimated at $10 billion a year globally.

"Householders are not able to insure against termites, and they're a very big concern," Snell says. "They don't go on holiday, you can't see them at work, and damage can occur very rapidly -- in a matter of months."

With 24 months of field data, the company will be able to seek registration to commercialise its new termiticide -- which, according to Snell, is also revealing itself to be a very good preservative against dry rot and other fungal damage.

Snell says BioProspect is already talking with several companies in the pest protection field, which have the potential to market the new termiticide globally. However, the company will look to refine the science in-house, to ensure it gets the best possible commercial deal with a future partner.

AP788 is a small molecule, and synthesis is straightforward. But Snell says his company will leave its partner to manufacture the product -- it has no desire to go the same, tough route as Perth-based anti-microbial developer Chemeq.