Oxford: Biotech company Oxitec making international headlines fighting disease in the Florida Keys

Oxford-based biotechnology company Oxitec develops genetically modified insects in order to create a population that then acts as a ‘living insecticide’. The company began a groundbreaking project last week in conjunction with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD), after a decade of planning, public engagement and regulatory approvals.

Oxitec’s genetically engineered non-biting male mosquitoes are being released over the next few months in six locations across the Florida Keys. The intention being that the male mosquitos, which do not bite, will mate with Aedes aegypti females, and therefore, reduce the number of those that carry diseases; the female offspring will not be able to survive. Despite only making up about 4% of the mosquito population in the Keys, Aedes aegypti is responsible for practically all mosquito-borne disease transmitted to humans in the region, according to the FKMCD.

Late April saw project researchers place boxes containing the mosquitos’ eggs at six locations spread out across the Keys. Early May should see the first males emerging, then roughly 12,000 more should exit the boxes each week for the next 12 weeks. Phase two, planned for later this year, will see nearly 20 million mosquitoes emerge over a period of 16 weeks in a bid to collect even more data.

Grey Frandsen, Oxitec’s CEO said, “We’re thankful for the opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of Oxitec’s technology with such an outstanding partner. The challenge posed by disease-spreading mosquitoes is growing, not shrinking, making this pilot project a major step forward in bringing Oxitec’s safe, self-limiting technology to the US.”

Until now the United States has relied heavily on insecticides to control their insect population, however, this overreliance has resulted in an evolution of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes.

Florida Keys not the first to seek Oxitec’s expertise

It is not the first time Aedes aegypti technology has been used. In 2019, it was proven to be a success in Brazil, where Oxitec’s male mosquito curbed the spread of Aedes aegypti up to 95% after 13 weeks of treatment.

In April 2021 Oxitec announced that it had received $6.8m in funding from the Wellcome Trust, one of the world’s largest charitable foundations, to scale up its Aedes aegypti technology

Who is Oxitec?

Oxitec is a US-owned company with headquarters and R&D facilities in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Started at the Oxford University, this advanced biotechnology company with multiple large-scale technology programs underway is represented by a team of individuals from 15 countries who work on developing ground-breaking technologies designed to sustainably and safely control insects that transmit diseases and destroy crops.

Oxitec was founded in 2002 with the help of Oxford University Innovation. Its insect-based biological developments are used for controlling pests that transmit disease, destroy crops and harm livestock.

Oxitec’s CEO Grey Frandsen has recently been named one of the ‘10 to End Malaria’ by Malaria No More. Frandsen started in 1999 as co-founder of his first technology start-up while still at university. Since then, he has started or led early-stage companies in technology, biotechnology and B2C.

Since 2016, Grey has been chair of the board of directors for Pilgrim Africa, an NGO funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Fund, USAID’s President’s Malaria Initiative, and the UK Government, which continues his 20+ years of work on the African continent.

BioTech and the Life Sciences sector thriving in the Thames Valley

The Thames Valley region, part of the UK’s Life Sciences ‘Golden Triangle’ connecting Oxford, Cambridge and London, has a thriving ecosystem of over 8,000 technology-led companies. The Life Sciences and Healthcare (LSH) sector comprises more than 135 companies and 8,000 employees.