BioProspect insecticide set for global field trials

A natural Western Australian insecticide is to be tested in field trials across Australia, Asia the United States and Europe under an agreement between BioProspect (ASX: BPO) and Nufarm (ASX: NUF).

In a market announcement, BioProspect said it had chosen Nufarm to evaluate its proprietary product, Qcide, over the coming six months.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nufarm will than have the option to enter into a commercial deal involving global supply of the product after its evaluation.

Qcide, a natural insecticide extracted from a plant native to Queensland, is touted by its creator as having the potential to revolutionise the global agricultural, domestic and industrial insecticide industries.

BioProspect CEO Selwyn Snell said field tests were the next step towards commercialising the product.

"Upon successful evaluation and the subsequent commercialisation of Qcide, BioProspect will receive licence fees, milestone payments and royalties that could exceed $10 million from the agricultural product sector alone," Snell said.

"This number is expected to increase significantly as registrations are completed for each other major market segment."

In the tests, the product is to be used against mites on citrus and pome fruits and the Colorado potato beetle in the US, mites on grapevines in France and heliothis, mites and whitefly on cotton in Australia. It will also be tested as a rice insecticide against several insect species in Malaysia, India and Indonesia.

Snell said the combined value of the globally markets the trial was being pitched towards was about $2.2 billion.

He said Nufarm's involvement would play an important part in the successful manufacturing and marketing of Qcide when it was ready for commercial sale.

"Nufarm's investment in the field trials commercially underpins the huge potential BioProspect has discovered in Qcide," Snell said. "Nufarm's involvement further strengthens our claims that Qcide will become an important product in the control of insecticide resistant pests in the future."

He said the company was currently seeking other strategic partners in other market sectors within the agricultural, domestic household, industrial and animal health industries.

Nufarm group general manager of R&D Dr Mike Dalling said the company was interested in investigating the potential of the insecticide.

"Qcide has a unique mode of action which we are keen to develop into an effective pest control product for the global market," Dalling said. "The strategic advantage of Qcide from other insecticides on the market is its natural composition."

The market, however, seemed less impressed with the news, with the stock shedding 14.3 per cent to trade around 12 cents at the time of writing, with almost 1.5 million shares changing hands.