Gowan Company and UK-based Moa Technology Limited have announced a strategic research collaboration aimed at advancing next-generation crop protection solutions.

The partnership will focus on Moa’s “amplifier” compounds—non-herbicidal molecules that could potentially reduce the concentration of agricultural herbicides currently used by farmers worldwide.

Moa has discovered 80 new herbicidal modes of action with its breakthrough technology platforms in the last three years, says Moa, and several of which are already controlling tough and pervasive weeds in field trials in the US, Canada, France, Spain, the UK, Australia, and South America.

“We are thrilled to embark on this exciting new project with Moa. This collaboration holds potential for groundbreaking scientific advancements in agriculture,” said Laurent Cornette, Global Herbicide Asset Manager at Gowan.

Moa CEO Dr. Virginia Corless said: “We are excited to discover this entirely new category of weed control solutions to help solve a real and immediate problem for farmers and the environment globally. It is also pleasing to see our groundbreaking technology platforms and proprietary data continually producing valuable new insights and discoveries at the forefront of plant science, creating new opportunities, solutions, and revenue streams for ourselves and ambitious and forward-looking industry partners like Gowan.”

The partnership includes significant investment from Gowan involving upfront payments and future value-sharing arrangements. Field trials are currently underway in Australia and the UK, targeting difficult weeds like annual ryegrass and Italian ryegrass.

Spun out from Oxford University in 2017, Moa has developed proprietary technology to discover a new generation of synthetic and bio-herbicidal compounds based on novel modes of action.

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