Lucre for Bioglobal's LuciLure

Bioglobal has signed an exclusive three-year agreement to market and distribute its LuciLure blowfly trap for sheep protection and landfill markets in Australia and New Zealand.

An offshoot of Cardia Technologies, Bioglobal's agreement is with Bayer Animal Health Division in Australia and will eventually extend to the US and China.

Cardia chairman Pat Volpe said that the agreement showed that Bioglobal's environmentally-friendly technologies and products were receiving recognition from major corporations such as Bayer.

Bioglobal will continue to manufacture LuciLure and LuciTrap for Bayer, which will be responsible for marketing and distribution of the product. It will be co-branded in the names of Bioglobal and Bayer.

"Bayer can obviously penetrate the market a lot quicker than we can," Volpe said.

Bioglobal's LuciLure technology uses odour-emitting lures to attract blowflies which are then trapped. One trap is sufficient for about 100 sheep in a one square kilometre area and lasts for about three months.

The technology was originally developed by the Queensland Department of Primary Industry and Bioglobal acquired the IP for the technology earlier this year.

It can be used to prevent flystrike in sheep and also for controlling flies in landfill.

Traditionally sheep are drenched to control flystrike, explained Volpe who said that this was an environmentally undesirable procedure that also had a negative impact on the wool quality.

The global market for blowfly control in sheep is estimated to be around $100 million according to Volpe.

Volpe said that the technology was being further developed by Bioglobal and Bayer to control screw-worm fly infestations, which are problematic for cattle production in SE Asia, Africa and South America.

Bioglobal is also developing a number of other attract and kill technologies for moths affecting cotton and other crops, and control agents for termites and fire-ants.