Intrexon (XON) Seeks to Capitalize on Brazil's Zika Virus Panic

Recent news out of Brazil suggests Intrexon (NYSE: XON) may have a winner in recent acquisition Oxitec, which provides biological insect control solutions. Intrexon bought Oxitec in September 2015 and the timing might not have been better with the recent outbreak of the Zika virus.

Today's headline in the New York Times reads: Alarm Spreads in Brazil Over a Virus and a Surge in Malformed Infants

According to the reports, there has been a surge in microcephaly, which is an incurable condition in which the heads of newborn babies are abnormally small. Brazil registered at least 2,782 cases this year compared with just 147 in 2014 and 167 the year before. The condition is related to those getting the Zika virus, which is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Pregnant women in the country are in a panic and at least one Brazilian official suggested that women living in mosquito-prone areas should postpone having children.

Intrexon, for its part, is on top of the outbreak. In early December, the company issued a press release discussing its plan to increase supplies of its proprietary mosquito control solution, OX513A, through its Brazil facilities to assist Brazil in addressing the outbreak of the Zika virus and other diseases transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

The company's product was approved for commercial release in 2014 by Brazil's National Technical Commission for Biosafety . It targets the disease-transmitting vector, providing a safe approach to prevent infections with no adverse impact to the environment. Efficacy trials in Brazil, Panama, and the Cayman Islands have shown decreases in the population of Aedes aegyptiof greater than 92% including a 99% reduction in Mandacaru, Brazil, according to the company.

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