Development and commercial exploitation of a novel fungicide designed to combat resistance in agriculture

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Fungi can be devastating as pathogens of food-crops, of humans and as food spoilage organisms. There is great potential value in new, effective treatments for controlling fungal growth. Through previous BBSRC-funded work, we discovered a novel combination of two agents with greatly amplified inhibitory action against fungi. Combination treatments are highly sought as they counter drug resistance and use smaller amounts of active agents. Our subsequent Pathfinder project has identified a very promising commercial path for exploiting this technology: as a fungicide to help preserve food crops. The agricultural fungicide market was forecast to be worth $12,125 million in 2014, and is growing. Through the Pathfinder, four important agri-chemical companies have formally expressed their interest in our findings and in potential development of a new fungicide. This Follow on Fund proposal combines key technical work with commercial development in order to take the technology towards market.