MosquitoMate receives first Vector Expedited Review Voucher (VERV) from the US Environmental Protection Agency

LEXINGTON, Ky., Dec. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just announced MosquitoMate as its first awardee in a new effort to fight the growing crisis of mosquito transmitted diseases. To help address the growing problem, in 2022 Congress mandated that the EPA create the Vector Expedited Review Voucher (VERV) program, which promotes new pesticidal measures against important mosquitoes. The VERV program is modeled after the successful Tropical Disease Priority Review Voucher Program that was legislated in 2007 at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). VERV is intended to encourage the development of novel products against selected diseases by rewarding innovative companies with a 'priority review voucher' that can expedite registration of a second product. Speeding a second product to market generates value for the manufacturer, which offsets the high development costs that are typical in registering public health products. In the same way, the EPA's VERV program stimulates the development of innovative public health pesticides to combat mosquito-related diseases. The voucher can either be used by the awarded company directly, or it can be sold to a different company, providing a financial incentive to innovate within neglected areas.

The MosquitoMate pesticide is innovative in multiple ways: it is a new and effective active ingredient and a novel delivery method. MosquitoMate makes and releases male mosquitoes that are infected with the Wolbachia bacterium. The approach does not use genetic modification and is listed as an organic product.  "The male mosquitoes are 'self-delivering' and do not bite or transmit disease-causing pathogens," describes Dr. Stephen Dobson, who is the MosquitoMate founder and CEO.  Only female mosquitoes bite, and the Wolbachia-infected males cause a form of sterility known as 'Cytoplasmic Incompatibility' (CI). Those female mosquitoes that mate with the Wolbachia-infected males lay eggs that do not hatch, causing the mosquito population to decline without the need to use harsh chemicals. "It's a species-specific method," says Dobson, "because the male mosquitoes only mate with females of the same species."  This specificity and chemical avoidance can be particularly important in environmentally sensitive areas, such as wetlands, where concern exists that a chemical might harm non-target and endangered animals, including beneficial insects like bees and butterflies.

MosquitoMate began working with the EPA years before the VERV was proposed. "We are thrilled that the WB1 male mosquitoes are being recognized by the EPA's new VERV program," exclaims Dobson. The WB1 male mosquito is effective against the Aedes aegypti mosquito (commonly known as the Yellow Fever mosquito), which occurs around the world and is responsible for transmission of dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever pathogens. This mosquito prefers to feed on people, and it is perfectly adapted to live and breed in the communities that humans create.  One published study from California shows the reduction of an Ae. aegypti population by more than 95% following the release of WB1 males.  With the EPA's registration, MosquitoMate can now begin to offer WB1 males nationally.

"The problem is growing," describes Dobson, "and the combination of climate change and increasing globalization of goods and human travel is making matters worse, both inside the USA and beyond."  As an example, in 2023 the USA reported cases of local malaria transmission for the first time in two decades.  This follows cases of local US transmission of the chikungunya and Zika viruses by mosquitoes in 2014 and 2016, respectively. "Exotic diseases that were 'over there,' are now occurring right here at home," says Dobson. Also contributing to the problem is the current lack of effective pesticides. "We have only a few tools that we can use in our fight against mosquitoes," he says. The number of effective insecticides has been declining at an alarming rate, as more mosquitoes develop resistance to existing insecticides.

"The Ae. aegypti mosquito is an invasive species in the USA," says Dobson. "It was accidentally introduced from Africa during early trade by European colonists of North America."  The MosquitoMate WB1 method is a species-specific approach. There are more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes on the planet, and most of them do not bite people or cause disease. "We're not trying to eliminate all mosquitoes," says Dobson, "many of which are important to the local ecosystem."

The VERV program was championed by a consortium that includes Duke University's Global Health Institute and the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) program.

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SOURCE MosquitoMate, Inc