Oxitec Launches Sparks™, a Commercial Platform to Scale Dengue-Blocking Wolbachia Solution, Aiming to Protect One Billion People by 2040
PRESS RELEASE
Oxitec Launches Sparks™, a Commercial Platform to Scale Dengue-Blocking Wolbachia Solution, Aiming to Protect One Billion People by 2040
Oxitec adds Wolbachia replacement technology to growing portfolio.
Financial support comes from the Gates Foundation and is pursuant to WHO call for scaled-up manufacturing.
Oxitec to take Wolbachia to commercial scale globally.
19 September 2024, Oxford, UK – Oxitec Ltd, the leading developer of biological solutions to control pests that transmit disease and threaten food security, has today launched Sparks™, a new commercial platform to accelerate the global scale-up of Wolbachia replacement technology, a proven, sustainable method of limiting mosquitoes’ ability to transmit dengue. Supported by a multi-million-dollar investment from the Gates Foundation, Sparks™ will leverage Oxitec’s leading global R&D teams, manufacturing operations and distribution partnerships to rapidly scale Wolbachia supply and pursue access-enhancing pricing for communities most in need as set forth by World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
This announcement comes as climate change drives the rise of new invasive pest threats across globally, including the rapid spread of a type of mosquito called Aedes aegypti. This invasive mosquito species spreads a number of infectious diseases, including dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever. Up to 400 million people each year suffer from dengue – a debilitating and sometimes fatal disease also known as ‘break-bone fever’ - and the number of infections is growing rapidly.
A promising addition to the toolbox to combat rising dengue rates is Wolbachia replacement technology, which was developed with a naturally occurring “Wolbachia” bacteria found in insects and is proven to reduce the ability of Aedes aegypti to transmit diseases like dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever.
The Sparks™ commercial platform to accelerate the global scale-up of Wolbachia replacement technology is an addition to Oxitec’s growing portfolio of biological solutions to control pests that spread disease, destroy crops and harm livestock. Sparks™ will complement Oxitec’s groundbreaking mosquito solution, Friendly™ Aedes aegypti, which is the leading dengue vector suppression solution that effectively reduces disease-spreading mosquito populations. Friendly™ Aedes aegypti is the first self-limiting solution in the world to be commercialized at scale where in Brazil it is being manufactured and distributed by more than 20 professional distribution partners, and is serving cities, large-scale employers, public spaces, transport hubs, schools, and a range of other end-users across the country.
Oxitec’s Friendly™ mosquitoes and Sparks™ Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes play different and complementary roles in the fight against dengue. Oxitec’s Friendly™ mosquitoes are designed to significantly suppress populations of disease-spreading mosquitoes and, in turn, reduce biting and the threat of disease transmission. Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes are designed to spread Wolbachia bacteria into the local mosquito population to limit the ability of the remaining infected mosquito population to transmit dengue. Each is suited for specific settings and intervention types, and provide options for governments and communities seeking suppression, replacement or hybrid approaches using both.
To date, Wolbachia replacement technology has been advanced largely by non-profit and university-based initiatives funded by philanthropic or government grants, which have demonstrated in a range of pilot programs the effectiveness of the approach.
With the technology now proven, it is ready to transition to commercial manufacturing at scale to increase access for communities most in need.
To that end, in 2022, the WHO published a target product profile (TPP) that calls for additional manufacturers to help increase supply of Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes to provide coverage for more countries at a cost that is sustainable for governments and communities. Oxitec will pursue the WHO targets and work closely with a wide range of stakeholders, partners and allies to do so as it begins to ramp up supply.
As Oxitec is the first company in the world to build a sustainable commercial operation designed to deliver mosquito-based solutions at scale, it is uniquely suited to pursue WHO targets and rapidly increase Wolbachia supply globally.
Given that, funding from the Gates Foundation will jump-start Oxitec’s launch of Sparks™ and enable an accelerated effort to build production capacity and global distribution infrastructure to rapidly increase supply and deployment of Wolbachia in a manner that helps expand access to and uptake with needful communities.
Further, and as anticipated by the WHO and independent scientific modelling, the combination of the suppression effects of Friendly™ solutions with a Wolbachia replacement approach has the potential to create important synergies that are anticipated to further drive costs down, speed up the time to impact, and ultimately accelerate the reduction of dengue rates. Oxitec will have both solutions available for tailored intervention programs based on the needs of governments and communities.
Oxitec’s Sparks™ enterprise will be led by a cross-disciplinary team across five continents, and supported by world-class R&D facilities, manufacturing sites, and strong partnerships with industry leaders, research institutions, governments, and non-profits. Sparks™ will pursue a dual approach to market – serving both high-burden/low-income and high-burden/higher-income markets globally – to help drive costs down to the ranges recommended by the WHO for those governments and communities most in need while achieving sustainability financially to reduce the need for continued charitable funding, which is increasingly under pressure globally.
Wolbachia replacement technology and Oxitec’s Sparks™ products do not involve genetic engineering.
Oxitec CEO Grey Frandsen commented “Oxitec is pursuing the end of vector-borne diseases in our lifetime. To achieve that, we’ve built the leading global platform capable of scaling core Oxitec solutions and a wide range of other impactful biological solutions to save lives and livelihoods. Given the WHO’s call for manufacturers to support scale-up of Wolbachia Replacement Technology to meet urgent and growing demand, we’re well-placed to develop a sustainable, scalable business model that will eliminate the need for continued charitable funding in perpetuity. We’re thankful for the scientific endeavours to date that have proven the effectiveness of this technology and we’re thrilled to have been given the support by the Gates Foundation to jump-start this effort. In the face of urgent threats to millions of lives, it is timely that our industry continues to mature how it advances promising solutions from innovations to global impact.”
Katey Owen, Director of Neglected Tropical Diseases at the Gates Foundation, said “Wolbachia replacement technology is a proven intervention to reduce dengue, a disease that continues to burden hundreds of millions of people globally. With multiple successful pilots completed in multiple countries, the technology is now ready to scale. Oxitec’s track record for the commercial scale-up of proven biological vector interventions is unsurpassed, which makes it an ideal organization to scale Wolbachia replacement technology. In an environment where demand for dengue control solutions is growing rapidly, Oxitec is poised to contribute substantially to the supply and implementation of this important dengue control technology to the benefit of communities most in need.”