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Press ReleaseMateria Announces Successful Synthesis of Mosquito PheromonePASADENA, CA, August 16, 2002 -- Materia, Inc. announced today its successful synthesis and preliminary field testing of the Mosquito Oviposition Pheromone (MOP). Pathogen-vectoring mosquitoes in the genus Culex secrete this natural substance. MOP is released when gravid female mosquitoes lay their eggs, thereby attracting other gravid females to that location. The use of synthetic MOP will enable mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus and other dangerous causative agents to be controlled without the need for broadcast spraying of large urban areas with conventional pesticides. Conventional pesticides kill insects indiscriminately, even beneficial insects, and are a growing environmental and health concern. The use of non-toxic insect pheromones to disrupt normal mating patterns or as attractants for capturing insects (either in mass trapping or in attract and kill techniques) in a localized area is well established. Insect pheromones are currently being used successfully as a method of controlling insect populations for many agriculture crops.The details of Materia's synthesis of the Mosquito Oviposition Pheromone will be presented by Materia's Director of Fine Chemicals R&D, Dr. Richard Pederson, on Aug 18th at the 224th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston, MA. According to Dr. Pederson, other syntheses of this mosquito pheromone have been performed in academic laboratories, but these methods are not practical for commercial production. Materia's proprietary metathesis technology enables the facile and scalable synthesis of MOP for the first time. "We are very pleased to be in a position to contribute to the control of mosquito populations at a time when public concerns over the pest are on the rise. Based on our very promising preliminary field testing on the efficacy of our synthetic MOP, Materia is registering our process with the EPA," reports Dr. Michael Giardello, CTO and CEO of Materia. About Materia, Inc. Materia provides innovative catalyst technologies as solutions for demanding problems in the Life Science, Materials, and Chemical Manufacturing industries. Over the past four years, Materia has consolidated an exceptional proprietary position in these technologies, which includes the recent additions of asymmetric metathesis catalyst technology and OrganoCatalysis(TM) for the production of chiral building blocks, intermediates, and active pharmaceuticals. The basis of the Company's technology is a suite of proprietary catalyst products and processes protected by core patents exclusively licensed from Caltech, MIT, Berkeley, and Boston College. These breakthrough catalyst platforms are revolutionizing the ways that chemists think about producing complex chemical identities and engineered materials. Contact: Dr. Mark S. Trimmer, Executive VP, VP of R&D Tel: (626) 584-4273 info@materia-inc.com |
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