Oxitec Newsletter - March 2024
Welcome to Oxitec’s first newsletter of 2024! We’re thankful for your interest in our work, and look forward to sharing our news and developments throughout the year. Covered in this edition:?
Delivering Impact at Scale: Oxitec's 2023 Annual Report
We’re thrilled to share?our 2023 Annual Report, marking an amazing year of product milestones, innovation, national scale-up and new partnerships. Your continued support has been instrumental in our journey, and we’re pleased to share our progress with you.? If you missed our report, you can read it?in full, here.?
Oxitec Launches New Scotland R&D Hub to Spearhead a New Global Fight Against Invasive Cattle Tick
We’re excited to announce that Oxitec has opened a new R&D Hub in Roslin, Scotland, to host a growing team of specialists dedicated to creating a Friendly? biological solution to the world’s most devastating cattle pest, the Asian blue cattle tick, Rhipicephalus microplus. Oxitec is collaborating with the globally respected livestock research organisation, the Roslin Institute , located just outside of Edinburgh, Scotland. Learn more about our work developing the world’s most sustainable tick management solution in our press release.?
Oxitec to Partner with the Ugandan Government and UVRI
Oxitec is delighted to be partnering with the Ugandan Government and renowned Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) to build a new Oxitec solution for Anopheles funestus, a major contributor to malaria transmission in East Africa, with the support of the Ugandan Government. Oxitec CEO, Grey Frandsen , and Chief Strategy Officer, Neil Morrison , met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni alongside members of his cabinet, and key public health, political and business leaders to help shape the country’s next bold move to combat malaria. Read UVRI’s announcement here.
Scaling Up?Friendly? Aedes aegypti Across Brazil
The recent surge of dengue across Brazil has highlighted the need for new and innovative tools, as a number of states have declared states of emergency due high case numbers. Oxitec’s team has been working around the clock to deliver Friendly? mosquitoes, locally known as Aedes do Bem?, across the country. Oxitec has partnered with local authorities in Suzano, Congonhas and Patos de Minas to deploy Friendly? solutions, and worked with Rentokil in Pirenópolis.?
Oxitec's Friendly? Fall Armyworm Continues to Advance in Brazil
Targeting one of the world’s most devastating pests of food crops globally, Oxitec’s Friendly? fall armyworm solution is in the final stages of development and has started product demonstration and pre-commercial pilots. The Friendly? fall armyworm solution is designed to deliver targeted, biological management of the pest and to actively counteract fall armyworm resistance to other important crop protection solutions.
Oxitec's Friendly? Mosquitoes Land in Djibouti
In partnership with the Government of Djibouti’s National Malaria Control Programme, Oxitec is pleased to announce the importation of self-limiting Friendly? Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes into dedicated, contained laboratories in Djibouti City. This milestone marks a significant step forward for the Djibouti?Friendly? Mosquito Program – a partnership between the Government of Djibouti, its National Malaria Control Programme, the not-for-profit Association Mutualis, and Oxitec – as it prepares to carry out government- and community-led releases in 2024.?
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Learn more about the importation in our press release, and Oxitec’s work in Djibouti on our project website. ?
We're Hiring!
With growing operations globally, we are continually looking for outstanding individuals from a range of backgrounds who are committed to having an impact globally and who share our values. If you believe you can contribute to our mission, please check our website for open positions in a range of countries or send a note to [email protected].
2023 World Malaria Report: New Tools Are Needed to Fight Malaria
The World Health Organization published its 2023 World Malaria Report in December. It spotlighted the growing threat of climate change to the fight against malaria, noting the rapidly-spreading urban malaria vector Anopheles stephensi and the need for innovation addressing the rising threat of drug and insecticide resistance. The report underscored the need for new tools, highlighting that these were “essential to accelerate progress towards global malaria targets.”? Oxitec is proud to be developing next-generation technologies to tackle two important malaria vectors, Anopheles stephensi and Anopheles albimanus.?
Read Oxitec CEO Grey Frandsen’s LinkedIn post on the World Malaria Report for more.?
Oxitec in the News
NPR featured Oxitec in its national radio program Morning Edition. Interviewed for the piece, Oxitec CEO Grey Frandsen underlined that "the question we're getting now is “How quickly can we get these technologies to new communities that need it the most?”.
Reuters reported?on the use of Oxitec's Friendly? mosquitoes to target Aedes aegypti mosquitoes spreading dengue in Brazil, quoting Natalia Verza Ferreira , Managing Director of Oxitec do Brasil . Reuters also published a piece fact-checking misinformation about Oxitec.
Brazil’s most-watched news program Jornal Nacional reported?how Oxitec's Friendly? mosquitoes are being deployed in Congonhas, S?o Paulo, to reduce populations of Aedes aegypti, the main vector of dengue, Zika and chikungunya. Learn more about the piece in our LinkedIn post. Oxitec’s work in Congonhas was also reported in Jornal da Band.?
MG1 from TV Globo aired a piece reporting how Friendly? mosquitoes are being deployed across Patos de Minas, Minas Gerais. This comes as the region declared a state of emergency, with more than 11,490 cases, as of 21 February this year. Watch the clip here.
Jornal Anhanguera of TV Globo reported on Oxitec’s partnership with Rentokil to protect communities across Pirenópolis in Goiás with Friendly? mosquitoes. Watch the clip here. This story was also reported in O Popular.
Diário de Suzano by TV Globo published a piece on how Friendly? mosquitoes are being deployed across Suzano, S?o Paulo, in partnership with the Municipal Health Department.?