Embargoed for release on World Mosquito Day

August 20, 2015

Sumitomo Chemical and IVCC work together to develop
novel insecticide for mosquito control
Sumitomo Chemical and IVCC have been working for the past 5 years to develop a newactive ingredient with a novel mode of action for use in the fight against the mosquitoesthat transmit malaria and other debilitating and often fatal diseases.
Extensive laboratory based studies demonstrating the safety and efficacy of this chemistry
against insecticide resistant mosquitoes have now been completed. On World Mosquito Day,
that commemorates the 1897 discovery by Sir Ronald Ross that female mosquitoes transmit
malaria, we are delighted to announce these studies have moved to the next phase. Thisincludes evaluating the performance of a range of prototype products in both laboratory
and semi-field based settings.
The past 10 years has seen tremendous progress in the reduction in the number of casesand deaths from malaria due to widespread efforts to control mosquitoes primarily throughuse of bed nets and indoor residual sprays.
This progress is however at risk as mosquitoes are developing resistance to many of theclasses of insecticides currently available.
Sumitomo Chemical with its long history of expertise in synthetic chemistry has an exciting
pipeline of new insecticides and products and has been at the forefront of developing new
tools to combat disease transmitting insects. The current research effort has been
supported by IVCC who have provided funding and access to a global multi-disciplinary teamof experts.
Ray Nishimoto, Representative Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer at Sumitomo
Chemical stated “Sumitomo Chemical is proud to be working with IVCC in the developmentof this new chemical class insecticide. When used in combination or rotation with otherproducts and tools as part of a resistance management program this has the potential tosubstantially improve our ability to better control and in the longer term achieve our longterm goal to eradicate malaria.”
Commenting on the project, Dr. Abdoulaye Diabate, a researcher in Burkina Faso at IRSS
(Institut de Researche en Sciences de la Santé), where high levels of resistance in mosquitoes
are being recorded said “Insecticides with novel modes of action such as this aredesperately needed, because if we carry on using the same mosquito control tools we havebeen using in the past then there is no doubt that the increase in resistance levels we areseeing will lead to control failure, with up to half the lives currently saved by vector controllost”

Dr. Nick Hamon (IVCC CEO) said: "Resistance to current insecticides is possibly the greatest
problem facing us in our battle against malaria, so we should not underestimate thesignificance of this exciting development.”
About IVCC
IVCC is a product development partnership funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,the UK Agency for International Development (UKAID), the US Agency for International
Development (USAID) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
About Sumitomo Chemical Company
Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of Japan’s
leading chemical companies, offering a diverse range of products globally in the fields ofpetrochemicals, energy and functional materials, IT-related chemicals and materials, healthand crop science products and pharmaceuticals. For additional information, visit thecompany’s website at www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp/english/.
For further information, please contact:
Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.
Corporate Communications Office+81 3-5543-5102
sumika-kouhou@ya.sumitomo-chem.co.jp

IVCC
Jed Stone
Head of Communications and Advocacy
Office +44 151 705 3308
Mobile +44 780 350 4084
jed.stone@ivcc.com