World Malaria Day: Syngenta’s contribution

25 April 2012

Responsible for the deaths of nearly one million people a year, including many growers, malaria is a major threat to public health in many parts of the world. The Syngenta Vector Control unit led a cross-functional team to develop a long-lasting formulation, Actellic® 300CS, to better control the insecticide-resistant Anopheles mosquitoes that carry the disease.

For the past 30 years, the world has been relying on the same four classes of insecticide chemistry to fight mosquitoes. As a consequence, they have become resistant to several of these classes, spurring the need for new formulations.  

Indoor spraying works by coating a wall with an insecticide from floor to ceiling. When a mosquito lands on the wall, it picks up a dose of insecticide and dies. Traditional formulations are typically effective for 2-3 months when applied as a spray. In areas of year-round malaria transmission, multiple applications are required every year, which can be costly and hazardous. When it comes to controlling the Anopheles mosquito inside families’ homes, safe application and longevity of the active ingredient are a must. The Syngenta team has been able to reformulate an existing active ingredient into Actellic® 300CS, a long-lasting encapsulated formulation that provides a practical and effective solution to a growing problem.

The development of Actellic® 300CS was supported by the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC). The IVCC, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a product development partnership whose mission it is to improve health by enabling partnerships for development and delivery of new insect control products. Actellic® 300CS will be the first product to emerge from their vector control portfolio.

Product registration has already been granted in Ghana, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. Actellic® 300CS adds a highly complementary product to the Syngenta portfolio, helping us to meet our commitment of contributing to the health and quality of life of the communities in which we work.