Spun out of Oxford University in 2017, Moa has developed proprietary technology to discover new synthetic and bio-herbicidal compounds based on novel modes of action to give farmers ‘safe, cost-effective, technologically advanced solutions at a pace weeds cannot match’.
In the last three years, Moa’s platform has screened over 830,000 compounds and discovered over 80 promising novel modes of action areas, several of which are already effectively controlling tough and pervasive weeds in field trials in the US, Canada, France, Spain, the UK, Australia, and South America.
In July 2024, Moa signed a major partnership with Nufarm to co-develop and commercialise one of these novel chemical series.
Moa scientists have now also identified a new class of novel ‘amplifier’ molecules. These molecules are non-herbicidal by themselves but when combined with traditional herbicides, the company said they can reduce the amount or concentration of chemical needed for effective results, offering safer and more sustainable weed management options.
Strategic partner
Moa’s first amplifier product is being developed in collaboration with major US-based crop protection business, the Gowan Company. The partnership includes significant investment and aims to bring the first amplifier product to market, specifically tailored to enhance a particular herbicidal active ingredient.
The possibilities are “inspiring”, said Gowan’s global herbicide asset manager Laurent Cornette.
Moa’s head of corporate affairs Alexandra Ranson explained how the discovery came about. “About three years ago, one of our teams was discussing some scientific results around modes of action, and we had a ‘lightning strike’ realisation that we had the theoretical ability to pair molecules together to create a synergistic effect,” she told AgTechNavigator.
Over the last three years the company has also developed its Gamma screening platform to find these molecule pairings. So far it has identified several hundred amplifier molecules of interest, which it has been gradually putting through its full laboratory and glasshouse cascade. “So far amplifier molecules have delivered results that have exceeded our expectations at every stage in the lab and in the glasshouse, and it’s on the basis of these strong results that we’ve seen a lot of interest from commercial partners – of which the first to sign has been Gowan.”
Pilot studies are under way in Australia and the UK and the company has seen amplifiers increase the efficacy of commercial herbicides in the glasshouse by 4x, and in some cases as much as 10x. “This could mean that farmers dramatically reduce the amount of herbicide they use in each application,” Ranson said. “It might also mean that farmers can use amplifiers to help break resistance in a particularly tough weed population, or widen the spectrum of weeds that a herbicide can effectively control.”
Regulatory hurdles
As this is a whole new product category and amplifiers are not actually herbicides themselves, the company can’t make any assumptions about what the regulatory path will be. “One of the things we will be doing is discussing with regulators in relevant markets how we can bring amplifiers to farmers’ fields as safely and quickly as possible,” Ranson said.
Meanwhile, the company is exploring the segments amplifiers could potentially be valuable in.
“There are very obvious use cases to help farmers reduce how much herbicide they routinely need to use, or to get on top of resistant weed populations, and from an agchem commercial perspective, amplifiers will be hugely valuable in portfolio lifecycle management,” Ranson told us.
“However, we also see real potential in cracking the super tough conundrum of bio-herbicides. Farmers now have access to some pretty good biofungicides and bioinsecticides but the crop protection industry has to date really struggled to deliver bioherbicides that are safe, effective, scalable and affordable. We think amplifiers could be a way to improve the efficacy of promising biological compounds to the point that they become viable options for commercialisation and use at scale.”
